Critical factors for early 5G success

The 5G ecosystem is reaching a level of technology maturity much more rapidly than earlier generations, enabling operators to develop network deployment and go to market strategies with mass-market appeal and scalable across evolving B2C, B2B and B2B2X business models.

early 5G success

Strategy Analytics’ report reviews 5G commercial developments to date and provides recommendations to operators on how to build competitive, differentiated 5G value propositions.

Recommendations for operators

  • Network deployments must cater to the diverse needs of enterprise and consumer segments to maximize service adoption and revenue generation. Operators must build 5G networks with a clear mapping of traffic profiles against specific locations.
  • Low-band spectrum is critical for coverage (and some early launches) and mid-band crucial for a differentiated high-bandwidth network experience, the combination allowing operators to maximize early use case opportunities across valuable customer segments.
  • B2B strategies must capitalize on the current drive for business agility and transformation, while B2C propositions must identify compelling content services to offer a differentiated 5G experience and drive adoption.
  • 5G pricing must contain ‘More for More’ elements to offer B2C ARPU uplift potential and factor in 5G service performance characteristics, such as low latency, for B2B relevance.

Phil Kendall, Executive Director, Strategy Analytics Service Provider Group, comments “It can be easy to dismiss talk of the transformative impact of 5G as hype, but rapid social and business change happening in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 has emphasized the value of high quality network experiences and the need for businesses to adopt new operational models. In these scenarios, flexibility is arguably the killer app for 5G.”

Guang Yang, Director, Strategy Analytics Service Provider Strategies, adds “We are early in the 5G lifecycle, though are already close to mainstream adoption of 5G smartphones and operators need to position their pricing and value propositions to attract the next wave of consumer and enterprise users.

“As more affordable 5G phones come to market, they need to be paired with options for both high value premium plans with more HD content and entry level plans for users who buy a 5G device just because it has a good promotion or camera or brand they want.”

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