With the pandemic disrupting work and accelerating the demand for innovation, leaders are ramping up interest and investment in 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and other advanced wireless technologies. Our Australian edition of Deloitte’s global Advanced Wireless Survey explores this rapid shift and provides a baseline for enterprises to better understand the application and benefits of next-generation wireless technologies, the pace of adoption and the challenges that can arise in deployment, operation and maintenance.

Key findings from our Australian respondents include:

• CIOs (69%) followed by CEOs (51%) are identified as the roles most responsible for leading organisations to adopt new wireless networks.
• Next-generation networks are here to stay with 38% of Australian enterprises already deploying 5G within business units or enterprise-wide, and 54% are preparing to use, or start pilots of 5G in the next 12 months.
• Australian enterprises are planning to spend an average of $68 million on advanced wireless technologies over the next three years, with a key driver being increased ability to respond to business disruptions like COVID-19.
• 75% say that next-generation networks will be critically important for enhancing customer interactions in the next three years.
• Looking ahead to 2024, all of our survey respondents expect to deploy 5G in their enterprise, with 71% saying it will be critical for their strategic business initiatives.
• Australian enterprises are looking to benefit from better customer interactions, new products and services, and cost efficiencies that come with deployment of advanced wireless networks.
• Top four concerns with new wireless technologies are cyber security, compatibility with existing systems, maturity of the technologies and difficulty identifying the right use cases.