WiFi could have a couple of things that may be going for it on this front (the so-called Industry 4.0). First, no band license required. Sure, private 5G netwo

WiFi could have a couple of things that may be going for it on this front (the so-called Industry 4.0). First, no band license required. Sure, private 5G network would be deployed by the telco, who’d provide the licensing umbrella, but it’s a cost item. Second, architectural simplicity. None of that complexity of the whole core/RAN business of the 5G. Third, ecosystem. Effectively, for 5G we’re only talking about a few vendors here: Ericsson, Samsung, and possibly Nokia (?). For the indifferent, add Huawei to the list. All of them will want to sell you the whole package. What may tilt the scales is the business side of getting the tech out there: telcos can put a lot of weight behind the 5G push in this space. Here it’s likely going to be the Deutsche Telekoms of the world (with all the help of their respective Ericssons) selling this to the Siemenses of the world. Who’s going to be the big-ticket champion for WiFi solutions? Most likely, it’s going to be smaller/medium vendors selling to their small/medium clients.