Report: 5G service provider revenues will hit $269 billion by 2025
In a new report from Juniper Research, focused on the outlook for 5G development and commercialization, suggests operators in the Asia Pacific region are ahead of the curve when it comes to developing next-generation network technologies.
The analysis identifies SK Telecom and KT of Korea, China Mobile, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and AT&T Mobility as the “most promising” 5G operators based on “time in development, breadth and value of partnerships and progression of 5G network testing.”
SK Telecom took the top spot based on trials focused on the use of high-band millimeter wave spectrum, massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and network slicing–all considered key technologies that will inform an ultimate 5G standard.
In February, SK Telecom partnered with German operator Deutsche Telekom and Swedish network infrastructure vendor Ericsson to demonstrate what the companies deemed the world’s first intercontinental 5G trial network connecting facilities in Bonn, Germany, and Yeongjong-do, Korea. The group also conducted a proof-of-concept featuring the creation and roaming extension of network slices optimized for augmented reality services.
In another example, SK worked with Ericsson again and BMW Korea to push data at a peak rate of 3.6 Gbps to a vehicle traveling at 170 using spectrum in the 28 GHz band.
Juniper researchers forecast that the majority–66%–of “operator-billed revenues” will come from North America and APAC by 2025. In terms of achieving a return on the massive investment that has and will continue to go into 5G-related R&D and network builds, Juniper sees “a diverse range of strategies” to support ROI by 2024 even with “the ongoing fall of average revenues per connection. As such, Juniper predicted adoption of software-based network solutions will lower investment costs,” effectively speeding ROI.
