A new Ericsson report - 5G for business: a 2030 market compass - estimates that the addressable industry digitalization market for service providers could grow to about USD 700 billion by the end of the next decade. 

The report identifies new revenue opportunities for service providers and offers a guide for navigating the changing 5G landscape. The report is a follow-up to previous Ericsson reports in 2017 and 2018 - then called The 5G Business Potential.

5G is already opening new opportunities in the highly competitive telecommunications market. As 5G continues to roll out across the globe, service providers are asking for a panoramic view of the market to prioritize areas for future growth.

To realize the full potential of a 5G-empowered world, service providers will look to expand beyond traditional mobile network services for 5G-enabled revenues. For example, the evolution of Cellular IoT and private networks is one of the keys to establishing momentum for 5G-enabled business revenues.

The Ericsson 5G for business: a 2030 market compass report has analyzed and conducted an in-depth look at the changes per industries since the 2018 report. The findings quantify the value of the potential addressable market for service providers based on more than 200 use cases across 10 different industries, and a set of 5G-enabled business-to-business (B2B) use case clusters.

To support service providers, report recommendations cover an analysis of each industry, to outline existing drivers and barriers and provide guidance for how to succeed in new markets.  

Jan Karlsson, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Area Digital Services, Ericsson, says: “With this compass we can better guide our customers in navigating in the 5G landscape beyond mobile broadband. However, the journey to grow the 5G business starts now by building momentum and identifying 5G-enabled B2B opportunities”

The report finds that by 2030, up to USD 700 billion of 5G-enabled business-to-business (B2B) value can be addressed by service providers, which corresponds to 47 percent of the total 5G-enabled market expected to be served by ICT players. To capture share in this market, the report concludes that service providers must extend their reach beyond connectivity and consider what other roles within the B2B value chain to take, and what use case clusters to address. The report also says that service providers should act now.

All industries studied represent major value pools. Among use case clusters cutting across these industries, enhanced video services represent the largest value pool, with up to 17 percent or US$118 billion of the total value by 2030.

The report highlights that while addressable market size is one key parameter, it must be balanced with other aspects. To help navigate the rapidly changing environment, the report outlines the drivers and barriers characteristic to each industry.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Revenues for currently available services are expected to remain stagnant through to 2030, whereas B2B digitalization opportunities will grow at a much quicker pace.
   

• If realized, 5G-enabled B2B opportunities addressable for service providers can account for up to 35 percent on top of revenues for currently available services by 2030.
   

• To be successful in capturing this potential service providers must act in the next 5 to 7 years, while roles and market shares are still being established.

The industries covered in the report are manufacturing, automotive, energy and utilities, public safety, healthcare, media and entertainment, public transport, financial services, retain and agriculture.

Covered use case clusters include enhanced video services, real-time automation, connected vehicles and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality remote operations. Use case examples building up these clusters include immersive live streaming of events, real-time operations and monitoring of distributed energy resources, and advanced-performance autonomous cars and auto-pilot driving.