Ericsson says a new report on 5G demonstrates concrete demand from consumers about the potential for mobile operators to gain new business opportunities. The Swedish network giant has a lot to gain from operators investing in new infrastructure and hopes the 5G Consumer Potential publication will dispel various industry "myths". These include a lack of consumer demand, a reluctance to pay a premium, and a lack of use cases.
Myths of Ericsson 5G
According to the report, the most immediate benefit consumers expect from 5G is increased speed and capacity, especially in urban areas, as well as the ability to replace home broadband services with Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). In the longer term, new virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and smart home services will grow. This could affect unpredictable data consumption when looking at 4G usage patterns, Ericsson says. In fact, higher quality video and new experiences will encourage higher levels of usage, as well as applications in development. Ericsson believes that one fifth of 5G users will consume up to 200GB of data on a single device by 2025. In terms of premiums, the report suggests that 5G users would be willing to pay up to 20% more than they spend. currently, while early adopters would accept a 32% increase. This, however, would satisfy the demands for faster speeds and improved security. Consumers are also expecting further innovations in terms of phones. 43% believe that future smartphones must include foldable designs, holographic projection capabilities, and 360-degree cameras. "Through our research, we have dispelled four myths about the consumer perspective on 5G and answered questions such as: Will 5G features require new types of devices, or will smartphones be the silver bullet for 5G," said Jasmeet Singh Sethi, director of ConsumerLab, Ericsson Research. "Consumers are clearly saying that they believe smartphones probably won't be the only solution for 5G." There are already 260,000 5G subscribers in South Korea, while commercial mobile services will be operational in the United States and Europe later this year. This includes the UK, where all four major carriers plan to launch in 2019.