5G Service Revenue To Reach $315 Billion: Report

New report suggests that operator-billed 5G service revenue will reach USD 315 billion in 2023 globally. The number is expected to rise from USD 195 billion in 2022.

The growth next year will represent a 60 per cent jump in a single year and this jump will be attributed to accelerating migration of cellular subscriptions to 5G networks; owing to operator strategies that minimise or remove any premium over existing 4G subscription offerings.

The report forecasts that over 600 million new 5G subscriptions will be created next year, despite the anticipated economic downturn in 2023.

The new study by Juniper Research predicts that the growth of 5G networks will continue and over 80 per cent of global operator‑billed revenue will be attributable to 5G connections by 2027.

In a statement, research co-author Olivia Williams said, “Despite the growth of the Internet of Things, revenue from consumer connections will continue to be the cornerstone of 5G operator revenue increase. Over 95 per cent of global 5G connections in 2027 will be connected personal devices such as smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband routers.”

The study also highlighted that the ability of standalone 5G networks to offer ‘network slicing’ will act as the ideal platform for the growth of 5G private network revenue. This particular bit of the report will be of special interest in the Indian context as Airtel and Jio, the country’s largest telecom players, take opposing stance on standalone networks.

Jio has decided to proceed with building a standalone network for 5G while Airtel believes non-standalone network is good enough for now.