What is the future of 5G?

Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece Francesca Greane, Marketing, Content and Community Lead for5G World 2020, discusses the evolving 5G ecosystem around the globe.

2020 was destined to be the year of 5G, with both telcos and enterprises alike expecting the journey to standalone (SA) 5G to be completed this year. Indeed, as reported by Telecoms.com, a recent study found that in the next 12-18 months, 27% of operators will deploy 5G SA and a further 10% will deploy it within 24 months.

However, these predictions and plans have now been brought into question, with the industry itself facing much uncertainty.

This is a sentiment echoed by Omdia 5G Practice Leader Dario Talmesio who maintained that “ Omdia, we are revising our 5G forecast. There are many factors to be looked at, including consumer confidence, business confidence, disposable income, employment data, availability of networks, availability of devices, retail environment, marketing budgets. all these are converging to one direction which is very negative for 5G eMBB. We previously believed that 2020 was going to be the real year of 5G. This is no longer that case under the current circumstances.”

Indeed, with the addition of recent rumours connecting 5G to COVID-19, some in the industry – such as Belgian telco Proximus – are taking a definitive step back from their deployment plans. And, with companies around the globe looking to support their customers and countries during the coronavirus pandemic, telcos are being forced to prioritise investment and attention away from their 5G deployment plans.

Surely now, more than ever, it has never been more important to decipher the future of 5G.

To help service providers, enterprises and solution providers realise their business-defining questions, research powerhouse Omdia are conducting their annual Global 5G Market 2020 Survey which delves into critical topics including:

You can have your say on the key trends, opportunities and challenges for 5G around the globe by taking ten minutes to answer the survey now. To say thank you, all respondents will receive a free copy of Omdia’s Global 5G Market Report, which will provide insight into the emerging 5G ecosystem that operators, enterprises and solution providers need to stay ahead of the curve.

You can complete the survey by clicking HERE.