5G doesn't just mean quicker internet speeds to prevent YouTube buffering inconveniences. Instead, it also means autonomous vehicles working better, the ability to more easily transfer huge swaths of data and the emergence of new tech initiatives.

During Legalweek's "Is 5G the Next Step of Your Digital Transformation?" panel, Verizon 5G Labs innovation manager Cory Terzis and CIV:Lab executive director Simon Sylvester-Chaudhuri explained how they picture 5G impacting business-to-business transactions.

Edge Computing

5G won't only increase uploading and downloading speeds, it will also foster edge computing.

Edge computing software operates an "edge server," which delivers content closer to the source of the request, instead of responding to a request from a potentially far away cloud server.

"You are now taking that processing power that is done on [a] device to the edge, closer to the client," Terzis explained.

However, although Terzis predicted the rollout of 5G is only two years away, the infrastructure for edge computing hasn't been fully developed yet. Still, Terzis stressed companies should understand 5G and its opportunities, to stay ahead of competitors.

"You can set out reasonable expectations, and the most honest statement I can make is, we are not sure of everything that will be available, but you can have a good understanding of the pain points," he said.

Fueling Business Transformation

The panelists stressed 5G won't just impact consumers, it will also affect industries and business culture.

While noting the cyberthreats of remote working, Sylvester-Chaudhuri said remote networking capabilities will improve with 5G internet networks.

What's more, Sylvester-Chaudhuri and Terzis said 5G will also help to advance specific industries, including the autonomous vehicle sector.

5G and its low latency, large IoT scale and high bandwidth will help autonomous vehicles process data quickly and seamlessly, Terzis said. Likewise, smart cities powered by 5G will be able to process data faster and more efficiently, Sylvester-Chaudhuri added.

More Cybersecurity Threats

Greater abilities also comes with greater susceptibility, Sylvester-Chaudhuri said.

Noting a larger grid is more susceptible to cyberthreats, "the vulnerabilities of 5G are going to be the vulnerabilities of our current internet infrastructure," Sylvester-Chaudhuri said.

What's more, the panel noted that 5G telecommunications equipment provider Huawei has been signaled out for potential heightened security risks because of its relationship to the Chinese government.

But similar to solving today's internet risks, Sylvester-Chaudhuri said companies can mitigate those risks by performing security assessments.