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5G is set to
generate $7 trillion in economic value by 2030 as it fuels a proliferation of
connected devices — from smartphones and consumer electronics to enterprise
applications — finds InterDigital and ABI Research’s new report, “State of 5G
Report: Enabling the Boundless Generation.”
article here
What’s more, it is
“very likely” that this is a conservative estimate, according to the report,
“because we cannot yet understand what types of services 5G will enable, particularly
in the enterprise domain.”
5G has already
reached 100 million subscriptions and is expected to achieve one billion
subscriptions in 2023. Network slicing, service chaining, and private 5G will
likely create “tremendous value” on top of these estimates and push the revenue
significantly higher.
We are only
scratching the surface of what is available with 5G, the report emphasizes.
As it stands now, a
single 5G cell site can transfer 240 terabytes during a single day. That
equates to 120,000 HD movies or 88,000 hours of 4K YouTube traffic per day.
“5G-Advanced and 6G
will build on this foundation to create innovation we cannot yet imagine,” the
report states. “5G will create new types of network effects in both consumer
and enterprise domains. [Its] impact will likely be significantly higher than
4G and previous generations. It will not just be a faster network, but a
completely new way to connect.”
Low Latency for
High-Quality Video
Noting that
360-degree VR and volumetric video have been slower to take off than many
expected, “diminishing some of this early excitement,” it’s suggested that
“video may not be the most interesting opportunity for 5G.”
Instead, service
providers should look to latency as “a key differentiator for new, cutting-edge
live video streaming experiences.”
The opportunity for
5G (from viewers’ perspectives) will not come from traditional live broadcasts,
which often have latencies in the sub-10 second range (live action to screen),
but rather in new user experiences and use cases.
“Interactive video,
video tied to betting and auctions, and video communications, for example, all
require lower latencies for optimal UXs,” the report says, indicating that
Netflix, eBay, YouTube, and others are making new efforts to introduced
interactive video.
This includes
e-commerce, where interactive communications between the presenter and
audience, has already seen traction in markets like China and Southeast Asia.
“If recent efforts
in other regions prove successful, live e-commerce will become a key driver for
lower latency video streaming. While these experiences can work over fixed
broadband, live experiences that are not tied to tighter scheduling will see
more users accessing and interacting with these feeds via mobile devices on the
go.”
Interactivity with
social media (e.g., user-generated content, streamers, and influencers) also
presents opportunities to position lower latency streaming and higher quality
video as key selling points for 5G.
Location-Based
Content
The rollout of 5G
in sports stadiums and arenas “represents a critical connectivity upgrade to
support high concentrations of users who are viewing live video (ultra-low
latency required to match live on the field action) and sharing content through
social media and real-time communication channels.”
5G-enabled cameras
can also provide unique views of the field or areas of the stadium “to provide
a premium viewing experience,” per the report.
“In addition to
regular sports fans looking to consume more content, multiple views and replays
can benefit sports bettors, who will want to analyze the action at a deeper
level. The rollout of 5G in U.S. sports stadiums and arenas, in particular, is
well positioned to take advantage of the growth in sports betting.”
5G and edge
computing can also introduce new experiences and applications for fans and
teams. Sensors can provide new data and information about athletes’ performance
and training.
Additional levels
of data could also be used by (and paid for by) sports bettors operating within
the confines of league, team, and government rules and regulations.
“While many of
today’s experiences are isolated to these venues these use cases represent
early glimpses of what the buildup to the metaverse will offer when paired with
5G and edge computing.”
5G and Metaverse
Opportunities in the Near Term
The arrival and
eventual spread of mainstream smart glasses will yield the most transformative
changes. This rollout will take time, as current projections only see the
installed base of 5G-enabled smart glasses passing 60 million units by 2030.
InterDigital says
the “metaverse is a longer-term vision (likely 2030+), but the buildup to this
future and high-quality video are both well-positioned to reinvigorate the
excitement and demand from consumers (and enterprise users) for what 5G can
offer.
“Once this future
arrives there will be significant changes across services, content, customer
relationships, workflows, and how we interact with the environment. A pervasive
display will create countless new touchpoints for video and information.
Personalization, digital identity, and customer relationships will take center
stage for marketing and advertising.”
All of these
applications will push demand for connectivity (both in terms of data
consumption and latency needs) and compute (cloud XR, personalization, processing
of content, application acceleration).
Coming Next
The next stage of
the 5G evolution (Release 18), targeted for December 2023, includes positioning
improvements that aim to ultimately reach <10-centimeter accuracy, and
Sidelink — a significant new introduction to cellular standards.
Sidelink grants
device-to-device communications, allowing for new types of deployments which
can lead to lower costs. Especially in the enterprise environment. It will
extend network coverage through device-to-device communications and boost
Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connectivity by enabling smartphones and wearables
to communicate with vehicles.
In the Release 18
(R18) for 5G-advanced, Reduced Capability (RedCap) will extend 5G capabilities
to power-constrained devices like smartwatches, machine vision cameras, AR/VR
devices, and passive IoT devices. This will support asset tracking across both
the enterprise and consumer markets.
Importance of
Standards
The report is
largely flag waving for the importance of standards in building
telecommunications networks, and in particular supports the Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP). InterDigital makes its money by researching,
devising, and owning patents, which feed into such standards.
“The patent process
is an important step to achieve economies of scale and mass market adoption,”
the report emphasizes. “It is equally important for companies to be the first
filer for patents — especially essential patents — but also to produce R&D
and innovation with the power to improve and push forward system designs deemed
essential for future use cases and new UXs. This process is exactly why patents
are necessary in the telecoms domain to ensure that innovation is accelerated
and also rewarded.
“3GPP is the anchor
that specifies the full standard and allows the global market to collaborate
and compete on even terms. This is essential to drive the future of 5G and
further allow customizations to be used across different markets.”
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