The report by Juniper Research identified the automotive and smart cities sectors as key growth drivers for 5G adoption over the next five years, and the research anticipated that revenue from these 5G connections is a highly sought-after new revenue stream for operators.
It forecasted that 5G IoT connections must be considered as new connections that will not cannibalise existing operator connectivity revenue from current IoT technologies.
The research urged operators to develop comprehensive value-added services to enable IoT service users to manage their 5G connections, and that value-added services will become crucial in the automotive and smart cities sectors.
The report mentioned that these sectors would account for 70% of all 5G IoT connections by 2025, with higher than anticipated levels of device support for 5G radios accelerating the uptake of 5G connectivity.
Research author Andrew Knighton remarked: “Management tools for the newly-enabled services are key for users managing large scale deployments.
“We believe that only 5% of 5G connections will be attributable to the IoT, but as these are newly enabled connections, operators must view them as essential to securing a return on their 5G investment.”
The research claimed that the initial high pricing of 5G connectivity in the IoT sector would dissuade all but high-value IoT users, and it advised operators to roll out holistic network management tools that complement the enhanced capabilities of 5G networks for IoT capabilities.
