Oct 12, 2017 08:00 (GMT+0:00)

• In its annual 5G Readiness Survey, Ericsson compiles 5G-related plans and activities among operators
• 78 percent of the respondents are involved in 5G trials this year compared to 32 percent last year
• Plans to monetize 5G involve migration of subscribers from 4G to 5G and expanding into enterprise and industry market segments

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has released the 5G Readiness Survey 2017. The report shows that many operators have accelerated preparations for the new technology and trials are being carried out by 78 percent of the respondents. Furthermore, 28 percent of the respondents expect to deploy 5G next year.

The survey also shows that operators have further developed their business strategies for 5G services. They are now looking beyond the consumer segment and foresee opportunities in the enterprise and industrial segments as well.

Thomas Noren, Head of 5G Commercialization, Ericsson, says:

“In the 2016 survey, 90 percent of the respondents pointed to consumers as the main segment in their 5G business planning. This year, it is an even split between three segments and operators have identified business opportunities not only in the consumer segment but also with enterprise users and specialized industries.”

According to the survey, operators are seeing that the consumer market is becoming saturated. As a result, 5G planning this year is more evenly distributed across specialized industry segments (58 percent), business users (56 percent), and consumers (52 percent).

The top three industry sectors that were highlighted by the respondents were media and entertainment, automotive and public transport but many also ranked healthcare as well as energy and utilities among the most attractive sectors for 5G applications. A clear majority of the respondents believe that Internet of Things will play an important role and that third-party collaboration will be essential in this context.

In terms of 5G monetization, the respondents believe that additional revenue will be generated from increased market share, migration of 4G subscribers, higher prices for new services, and by expansion into new enterprise and industry segments.

The respondents, 50 executives in business and technical areas, were interviewed in July and work for 37 operators globally that have announced publicly they are working on 5G.