The number of 5G connections will reach 1.4 billion by 2025 from 1 million during the first year of commercial launch in 2019, representing an average annual growth of 232 percent, said Juniper Research.
The research report on 5G industry indicates that telecom operators will be forced to continue roll out of 5G services without making much revenue from the latest mobile technologies.
China Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, DT, SK Telecom, SoftBank, among others are gearing up for 5G in order to derive additional revenue from new services and give less thrust on voice business.
The report said 5G fixed wireless broadband would need to meet expectations in real-world scenarios to compete with fibre broadband.
Three countries such as China, US and Japan will have the highest number of 5G connections by 2025, accounting for 55 percent of all 5G connections by 2025.
US alone will account for over 30 percent of global 5G IoT connections by 2025, with the highest number of 5G connections for fixed wireless broadband and automotive services.
The report is silent about 5G opportunities in India telecom market which is home for Vodafone and Airtel. Vodafone has an active IoT business globally. Bharti Airtel announced its 5G partnership with Nokia.
Average revenue per connection (ARPC) for commercial IOT revenues will be disappointing, including Smart Cities and Digital Health — due to low data requirements and nominal duty-cycles.
Telecom operators need to develop new business models to minimize network operating costs, including software-based solutions to manage the diverse requirements of individual 5G IoT connections.
Maximizing connectivity revenues through 5G fixed wireless broadband would prove crucial to offset this disappointment, with ARPC forecast to remain above $50 until 2025.
“Operators and vendors must test their networks in a real-world environment at scale, ensuring speeds can compete with fibre services,” said research author Sam Barker. “Networks that can deliver the highest speeds and greatest reliability will command the highest ARPCs, hastening an operators’ return on 5G investment.”
