New Delhi: Despite promising low latency, high capacity, and a wide range of applications for consumers and businesses, fifth-generation technology faces monetization challenges, according to GSMA Intelligence.
According to Peter Jarich, head of GSMA intelligence, operators around the world are unable to monetize these new networks despite billions of dollars of investment. However, going forward, he said 5G-Advanced technology could solve some of the monetization pain points.
“The promise of 5G was that we could unlock new revenue and new capabilities to monetize. As we’ve seen around the world, I don’t think we’ve quite achieved that yet. “With each successive (network) generation, the CAPEX-to-revenue ratio for 3G, 4G and 5G is increasing. More money is being spent to get a given return.” was stated in the keynote speech at the 7th ETTelecom 5G | 6G Congress 2024 Thursday.
The head of the London-based GSMA research and consultancy firm said 5G is “definitely” not delivering on its promises in terms of monetizing network investments.
“And that’s a problem,” he said. “That’s where things like 5G-Advanced come in.”
Based on discussions with carriers, Jarich highlighted that 5G-Advanced could enhance uplinks and security, and bring new opportunities for edge and slicing. The main use cases for 5G-Advanced are expected to be 5G multicast, low-cost Internet of Things (IoT), and non-terrestrial network (NTN) integration.
Telecom companies, suffering from the meaningless profits from their 5G investments, are in no hurry to deploy 5G-Advanced. According to data from GSMA Intelligence, only 4% of carriers expect to roll out 5G-Advanced in the year it is released. In contrast, an astounding 99% of carriers may be considering deploying 5G-Advanced for five years after release.
5G-Advanced, part of 3GPP Release 18 in 2024, is expected to usher in the next milestone in the fifth generation era. This technology strengthens the foundations of 5G, including improved speed, coverage, mobility, and power efficiency. It will also serve as a bridge to the 6th generation (6G) mobile network, which is expected to be commercially available from the end of the decade (2030).
According to GSMA Intelligence, there will be 1.6 billion 5G connections at the end of 2023, which is expected to rise to 5.5 billion by 2030. 261 carriers in 101 countries have launched commercial 5G services, and a further 90 carriers in 64 markets have launched commercial 5G services. 5G is expected to launch within the next few years.
“We’ve seen that 5G is the fastest-adopting mobile broadband technology in India. It’s faster than anything we’ve seen with 3G or 4G. The uptake of 5G is incredible,” Jarich said. Ta.
India’s top two incumbent telcos, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, have completed pan-India 5G rollout, accumulating over 100 million unique 5G users. Both companies have launched 5G fixed broadband services to monetize their networks.
