Global 5G revenues to hit $489.2bn by 2025

Operator revenue from 5G connections will reach US$5 billion ($7.05 billion) this year before surging to US$357 billion ($489.2 billion) by 2025, Juniper Research predicts.

The research firm expects rapid adoption of 5G, with the technology on track to account for 44% of global operator billed revenue by 2025.

Already 5G uptake has surpassed initial expectations, and total connections are predicted to exceed 1.5 billion by 2025, Juniper Research predicted in a new report.

Meanwhile the average 5G connection will generate 250% more revenue than an average cellular connection by 2025.

Telecom companies facing huge investments in 5G infrastructure are expected to seek to secure a return on investment by charging a premium for new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC) and 5G-enabled network slicing.

But while the revenue upside potential is there, these new services — as well as the high-bandwidth capabilities of 5G — will create data-intensive use cases that lead to a 270% growth in data traffic generated by all cellular connections over the next five years, driving up costs for operators.

Research author Sam Barker urged telecom operators to use future launches of standalone 5G networks as an opportunity to further increase virtualisation in core networks to ensure they are able to manage the substantial increase in traffic.

“Operators will compete on 5G capabilities, in terms of bandwidth and latency. A lesser 5G offering will lead to user churn to competing networks and missed opportunities in operators’ fastest-growing revenue stream,” he said.

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