5G: Industrial Digitisation to Generate $700Billion for Service Providers by 2030

The Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson, Borje Ekholm has forecasted industrial digitisation will generate USD 700 billion in revenue for service providers by 2030.

Ekholm, who made this disclosure while addressing the 2020 GTI Summit on 5G network expansion and private networks said a leading application for 5G will become evident once the infrastructure is in place.

According to him, many people tried to identify what he called “the killer app”, but that no-one could envisage that transportation would be arranged through taxi hailing apps, food and clothes ordered through mobile phones, and films downloaded and played from the palm of one’s hand.

The same will be the case with 5G, he said. The CEO said the next three years will be critical in determining the make-up of the 5G landscape. Ericsson has found that operators who took the lead in launching LTE were able to outlast and out-perform those who arrived late.

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Ekholm said that industrial digitisation will generate an estimated USD 700 billion market opportunity for service providers by 2030, equivalent to about 35 percent of current industry revenue.

Ericsson has found that 70 percent of enterprises are seeking to engage with a non-telecoms service provider, while a third already consider communications service providers as an important partner in their digitisation efforts.

The CEO said that service providers need to expand beyond traditional mobile network services to capture 5G-enabled revenue. He said that the evolution of cellular IoT and private networks in working up momentum for 5G-enabled businesses.

Ericsson has established partnerships with several tier one operators, such as Telstra, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica, to provide dedicated cellular connectivity to their customers.

In 2019, Ericsson signed an agreement with China Mobile and Shaoguan Steel in Guangdong to build a 5G smart mill and explore 5G industrialisation. It also deployed the Ericsson Dedicated Networks platform to connect more than 10,000 square meters, in cooperation with China Mobile.

Ericsson’s factory in Nanjing has integrated mobile IoT, Industry 4.0 and AI tools into most of its production.