Estimates for when 5G will arrive in force and what kind of value it could represent for network operators, their suppliers, businesses, and the economy as a whole run the gamut. But recent statements from AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert), and recent reports from a variety of sources, could provide a better idea of what to expect.
AT&T, earlier this week, announced that it will be the first carrier to launch a standards-based mobile 5G service in more than a dozen markets in the United States by late 2018. This year it also plans to reach more than 660,000 total locations, and 1.1 million locations by the end of 2020, in those 18 states with fixed 5G services. Verizon, meanwhile, expects to launch 5G-based fixed wireless residential broadband services in three to five U.S. markets this year, but currently does not have plans to introduce commercial mobile 5G services in 2018.
A December Bloomberg report say most cellular carriers expect to do first 5G rollouts in 2020. And it expects that by 2025 carrier revenue will grow around 2.5 percent as a result.
A white paper published by Mobile World Live reports the results of a 5G survey. It says that 46.7 percent of those surveyed expect 5G to be widely available in their market(s) by 2022. More than 30 percent expect 5G to be widely available in their market(s) by 2020, and 18.7 percent said 5G will be widely available by 2025.
And the recently released GSMA (News - Alert) report “The 5G era: Age of boundless connectivity and intelligent automation” suggests 5G connections could represent 12 percent of total mobile connections by 2025. And in that time period, it added, operator revenues should increase at a compound annual growth for of 2.5 percent to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025.
Research and Markets late last month also made available for sale a 5G study. The promotional materials the company is using to advertise the study suggest the 5G software and infrastructure market could be worth $28 billion by 2023. And those materials reference other sources such as Ericsson (News - Alert) and Pew.
Edited by
Mandi Nowitz
