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5G networks can help rebuild economies – Ericsson CEO

29th May 2020

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The rapid deployment of fifth-generation (5G) technologies could enable countries to rebuild faster after lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic left many economies in tatters.

5G is widely expected to unlock the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and will be the cornerstone upon which a country’s relative competitiveness is built, says information and communication technology firm Ericsson president and CEO Börje Ekholm.

“While 4G gave us the app economy, 5G will be the greatest open-innovation platform ever.”

The deployment of 5G is expected to drive exponential public- and private-sector value, including efficiencies in public services and new and more effective modes of delivery in healthcare, education, transport and disaster control.

With the increasing importance of connectivity, and 5G as critical national infrastructure, Ekholm believes that it is in the public interest to ensure that pervasive, high-quality, affordable and secure networks are available when and wherever they may be required.

This includes the development of a common and holistic policy that maximises investment incentives for the private sector, optimising sufficient 5G spectrum assignments to deliver expansive 5G connectivity.

The next three years will determine the 5G business landscape, he states.

5G will play a very important role as devastated economies emerge out of lockdowns, and rebuild, says Ericsson strategic marketing head and Ericsson ‘Mobility Report’ executive editor Patrik Cerwall.

“Economies will need to kick-start [as countries ease lockdowns] and they will need to spur investments in . . . innovation and new technology,” he notes.

At that time, operators will need to be ready with their 5G networks to capture that innovation.

Growing Revenues

“We are already seeing early signs of service providers monetising the 5G opportunity, with positive average revenue per user, or Arpu, trends and growing revenues in pioneering 5G markets,” says Ekholm.

He points out that the first 5G networks have been launched, with Ericsson equipment now used in over 30 live commercial networks across four continents.

The group also increased its 5G market share in China, with some ninety-one 5G commercial agreements signed to date.

“For many enterprises, the immediate value of 5G is not just high speed and low latency; instead, what matters the most, here and now, includes reliability, real-time positioning, security and privacy, often by means of network slicing,” he comments.

However, network quality will be even more important in the 5G era and the key for 5G success will be a strong ecosystem.

“5G also offers service providers an opportunity to gain first-mover advantage and create a significant network performance gap with the competition,” he says, adding that consumers are willing to pay up to a 20% price premium, as long as it is tied to the consumer experience of the network, which emphasises network quality and decent coverage.

Ericsson ConsumerLab head Jasmeet Singh Sethi explains that about six in ten consumers globally are positive about the role of 5G and the role it could have played during the Covid-19 crisis, “right from how 5G could have accelerated

this push towards immersive technologies, like augmented reality and virtual reality, eventually impacting areas like learning for children, [to] the impact that 5G could have had on the healthcare sector,” he continues.

In the long term, Ericsson notes, resilience will be expected on the networks and that 5G can also assist in preparing consumers for any future crisis.

“Despite the fact that, in certain markets, the 5G roll-out is very new and nascent, we still have about 20% of consumers saying that they will upgrade to a 5G plan in order to prepare better for a future crisis,” he says.

Meanwhile, Ericsson’s biyearly ‘Mobility Report’, released in November, predicted there would be 13-million 5G subscriptions globally by the end of 2019, 100-million by the end of 2020 and 2.6-billion by 2025.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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