Enhancing operator business services with 5G

Operators need new sources of revenue growth in the business market. 5G, especially 5G standalone (SA), provides opportunities for operators to generate new revenue from features such as ultra-reliable connections, low latency, massive connectivity and integration with edge services.

These services will be sold and delivered in different ways from traditional services (for example, they can be consumed on-demand and controlled via APIs). Customers will value the features enabled by 5G in different ways from traditional services. Operators will need to experiment with alternative pricing models and package features in new ways. For example, services such as unified communications could be sold with guaranteed service levels. The new features, delivery and pricing models will require mobile operators to change their thinking and to invest in new systems.

Operators will be able to add 5G-related features to the connectivity-related products that they can sell, increasing the revenue opportunity and strengthening their position in the value chain. Operators with the relevant assets will also link 5G features into other cloud, security, UC and fixed propositions, potentially creating a unique bundle of products. The most ambitious operators will use the extra features of 5G to enhance propositions in markets such as drones and healthcare.

A potential weakness in the argument for many 5G SA services is that they remain theoretical. However, many of the features being developed in 5G SA are already available in the private networks market, which has seen strong growth. Over 50 operators are also exploring the opportunity presented by edge computing, another area with close links to 5G SA networks. Interest in private 5G networks and edge computing is evidence that the case for enhanced 5G networks is not purely theoretical.

This report explores how telecoms operators should prepare themselves to benefit from the 5G opportunity in the business market. It was originally published by Amdocs.