5G revenue to hit $7.3bn in a decade

Enhanced mobile broadband, 5G smartphone usage and various kinds of rich content are major targets following the initial 5G roll-out in Thailand, while the real commercial use cases for industry should be seen next year, according to Ericsson Thailand, the local operating unit of the Swedish telecom infrastructure firm.

Thailand is seen as an early mover in 5G development in Asia-Pacific after yesterday’s 5G spectrum licence auctions.

A new Ericsson report, “5G for Business: A 2030 Market Compass”, forecasts the total value of 5G-enabled revenue in Thailand by 2030 at US$7.3 billion, of which $3.3 billion or 45% will be the operators’ share of revenue.

Wuttichai Wutti-udomlert, head of network solutions at Ericsson Thailand, said spectrum resources are critical infrastructure for the country.

The government needs to provide a clear roadmap for spectrum usage to pave the way for 5G ecosystem development and related investment, he said.

Sufficient low, middle and high bands are essential, particularly the 3500MHz range, which is popular among operators worldwide, Mr Wuttichai said.

The government is likely to target the band for the next auction for the 5G network.

Mr Wuttichai said the initial 5G rollout in Thailand will focus on enhanced mobile broadband and fixed wireless access service to boost data bandwidth and connection reliability.

5G-enabled smartphones will be used by capitalising on 5G frequencies for data throughput enhancement, he said. Other non-data services will still rely on the 4G network.

SK Telecom in South Korea, which provides 5G service on the 3500MHz band, offers a premium service through 5G smartphones while ushering in rich content in diverse areas, including gaming, ultra-high definition, and augmented and virtual reality.

It has also embarked on new business use cases for 5G tech.

“The Thai market will see the same trend for premium on-top promotional packages for 5G service,” Mr Wuttichai said. “Operators will try to encourage their customers to shift to these new premium packages.”

The initial roll-out of 5G networks involves NSA (non-stand-alone) deployments that focus on enhanced mobile broadband to provide higher data bandwidth and reliable connectivity.

The 5G stand-alone (SA) network and device standard is still under review and is expected to be endorsed this year by 3GPP, a standards organisation that develops protocols for mobile telephony.

The advantage of the SA network is simplification and improved efficiency, which will result in lower costs and throughput enhancement.

The major operators in Thailand could start deploying 5G core SA in 2021, Mr Wuttichai said.