FINAL WORD
Why cellular connectivity is the future of business networking
Organisations are incorporating complex and sophisticated technology tools into their business strategies to keep up with the pace of change . However , traditional fixed line networking is often not enough to meet the demands of today which means the rapid evolution and advancements of cellular networking are making it a much more viable option . Paul McHugh , Area Director at Ericsson , talks us through the 2024 State of Connectivity in Europe report and provides expert insight into the benefits of cellular connectivity for organisations .
Paul McHugh , Area Director at Ericsson
A huge majority of businesses ( 98 % across Europe ) believe improved cellular connectivity will lead to business revenue growth . Technology in retail stores is designed to reach new heights by driving footfall into the stores themselves through the use of mobile and automated points of sale , for example .
Paul McHugh , Area Director at Ericsson , commented : “ The efficiency of using all this technology , underpinned by reliable , high-performing connectivity , is contributing to that top line growth .
“ The benefits described for a retail organisation may be completely different to how a manufacturer , house builder , or a public service organisation may benefit from the same underlying technology .”
The impact of downtime on businesses
Despite some large investment announcements from the European Commission and the UK Wireless Strategy last year , over half ( 55 %) of organisations in Europe still suffer from up to two hours a week of downtime .
With such a vast amount of technology dependent on networking , the consequences are significantly impactful if the networking layer is briefly unavailable , let alone for two hours . therefore the lifeblood of their business has been taken away for a period of time .”
He clarified the same is to be said for all organisations that use technology as a necessity to function : “ Whether it is directly related to revenue generation or indirectly , through productivity and operational efficiency , the impact is huge .
“ The answer to avoiding downtime and ensuring business continuity is making sure there is resilience and reliability at the networking layer . This can be achieved in the form of cellular networking .”
Transitioning from existing Wi-Fi and wired connection to WWAN and private networks
Existing Wi-Fi and wired services are already serving a purpose . Wi-Fi is there to provide services to consumers , while fibre networking delivers connectivity for corporate services .
“ What is increasingly important to organisations is introducing more automation into business processes ,” McHugh continued . “ This requires more connectivity and more networking capacity in order to deliver ; and the type of connectivity that is evolving fastest and becoming the highest performing is cellular .”
Using the example of retail once again in the context of downtime , McHugh explained : “ The retailer cannot process payments , which means they can ’ t trade ,
For many organisations , dependency on a publicly available cellular network is too much of a risk . Private cellular networks provide a dedicated networking
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