Mobile firms keen on 5G, poll shows

Mobile operators are accelerating their adoption of 5G and looking for opportunities to apply the technology in the enterprise and industrial sector, says Swedish network equipment maker Ericsson.

The firm’s 5G readiness survey interviewed 50 executives at 37 mobile operators globally that have announced publicly they are working on 5G.

According to the survey, 78% of respondents are undertaking trials of the technology, up from 32% last year, with 28% of the respondents expecting to deploy 5G in 2018.

Companies are now looking beyond the consumer segment and planning for applications in the industrial and enterprise sectors.

Last year, close to 90% of companies surveyed focused on consumer needs; this year only 52% do so.

At the same time, interest in business and industry users has risen quickly. For example, only 34% of businesses made specialised industry segments a focus last year, but 58% make it a priority today.

The survey found mobile operators perceive the consumer market is becoming saturated. Therefore, 5G planning this year is more evenly distributed across specialised industry segments (58%), business users (56%) and consumers (52%).

In terms of industries, media and entertainment was the prominent focus of applications, followed by automotive, public transport, healthcare, and energy and utilities.

A majority of the respondents believe that Internet of Things will play an important factor in the development of 5G, and that “thirdparty collaboration will be essential in this context”.