5G roadmap: readiness is on the rise, says Ericsson

A report drafted by Ericsson on 5G Readiness shows that many operators have accelerated preparations for the new technology, and trials are being carried out by 78 percent of the respondents.

Furthermore, 28 percent of the respondents expect to deploy 5G next year.

Titled '5G Readiness Survey 2017', the survey shows that operators have further developed their business strategies for 5G services. They are now looking beyond the consumer segment and foresee opportunities in the enterprise and industrial segments as well.

"In the 2016 survey, 90 percent of the respondents pointed to consumers as the main segment in their 5G business planning. This year, it is an even split between three segments and operators have identified business opportunities not only in the consumer segment but also with enterprise users and specialized industries," said Thomas Noren, Head of 5G Commercialization, Ericsson.

According to the survey, operators are seeing that the consumer market is becoming saturated. As a result, 5G planning this year is more evenly distributed across specialized industry segments (58 percent), business users (56 percent), and consumers (52 percent).

The top three industry sectors that were highlighted by the respondents were media and entertainment, automotive and public transport; but many also ranked healthcare as well as energy and utilities among the most attractive sectors for 5G applications. A clear majority of the respondents believe that Internet of Things (IoT) will play an important role and that third-party collaboration will be essential in this context.

In terms of 5G monetization, the respondents believe that additional revenue will be generated from increased market share, migration of 4G subscribers, higher prices for new services, and by expansion into new enterprise and industry segments.