Operators will take 5G to verticals they’re already familiar with, analyst says
LONDON–Right now, the focus on 5G monetization is all about delivering enhanced mobile broadband experiences to consumers. For meaningful entry into the enterprise and industrial segments, there’s still standardization and technological advancements needed, according to Dario Talmesio, principal analyst and practice leader at Ovum.
Speaking during 5G World, Talmesio pointed to South Korea as a leader in 5G commercialization, noting that SK Telecom has gone to market with differentiated consumer plans focused on applications like virtual reality and UHD video. “The market of eMBB is by far the largest segment in the foreseeable future,” he said. “South Korea is already offering a glimpse into what the future of 5G monetization looks like and it’s all about content.”
But providing faster speeds to handsets is just a small part of what 5G can do; additional key use cases include massive machine-type communications and ultra reliable low latency communications–both ideal for enterprise and industrial players looking to drive digital transformation. However, operators can’t adequately address the range of vertical opportunities in a vacuum.
“There are so many industrial verticals that are genuinely interested in what 5G can do for them,” Talmesio said. “Unsurprisingly, when we ask operators to pick which ones are the most likely driver of 5G, they pick the markets that they probably already know the best.” Media, for instance, which many operators already play in.
He continued: “I was thinking, can any of the operators I know…ever reach this level of integration of an ecosystem? Possibly not. The point we’re trying to make here is that…it’s about industry collaboration and it’s about third parties sometimes stitching it all together. In some cases, it’s an operator doing it but in many cases it won’t be an operator…because the complexity of understanding the vertical are, in some cases, insurmountable. There isn’t enough manpower, there isn’t enough brain power, there isn’t enough financial capacity to enter a specific vertical.”
Light Reading’s Ray Le Maistre, during opening remarks ahead of Talmesio’s presentation, said the need for a partnership-driven approach to 5G represents a huge opportunity but also a “massive challenge. The network operators simply can’t do this all by themselves.”
