German companies consider 5G as unimportant

Study by Bitkom

The digital association Bitkom has asked German companies how important they consider the expansion of 5G to be. The answer: 55 percent of those surveyed are currently not planning any 5G coverage. Only two out of five companies want to equip their company with the new standard.

For the representative study of the association, 505 industrial companies were interviewed by telephone.

But the assessment of the importance of 5G grows with the number of employees. For large corporations with more than 2,000 employees, 66 percent stated that the 5G mobile communications standard was important.

Bitkom surprised by results

Bitkom President Achim Berg stresses the importance of the technology: “For Germany as an industrial location, 5G is a key technology. The German industry gets an enormous boost with 5G.” After all: 73 percent of the participants see this in a similar light. More than 80 percent believe that the mobile radio standard increases productivity, 70 percent consider the technology to be trend-setting.

But nevertheless, German companies are rather reluctant to expand. A result that even the Digital Association cannot explain. Berg fears that the local 5G frequency ranges reserved by the Federal Network Agency will not be used and will be left fallow. “If you don’t deal with 5G now, you risk tomorrow’s business,” warns Berg.

Germany only in midfield at 5G

According to the survey, there are three possible reasons why companies in Germany are reluctant to address this issue: 57 percent see no added value, 32 percent of companies have no budget for expansion. Another 41 percent want to wait for the frequency auction, which is currently still in progress.

But above all in the public discussion the respondents consider the topic to be overestimated (32 percent). Just under a quarter believe that the German economy could continue to do well without the real-time Internet.

More than a third of the companies surveyed estimate that the Federal Republic of Germany is one of the stragglers in the expansion of technology. 22 percent stated that Germany was even lagging behind. No one sees the location as a global leader, and only two percent consider it to be among the leaders.

With the integration of the mobile radio standard, production facilities will be networked (54 percent), augmented and virtual reality (50 percent) and real-time communication (49 percent) will be expanded.