The trends happening in the telecoms space are wide-ranging, as a recent webinar hosted by GSMA Intelligence listed 11 trends of note: network transformation; AI; digital industries; consumer 5G; fixed broadband and 5G FWA; consumer technology; eSIM; satellites and NTNs; mobile impact; spectrum; and energy efficiency and circularity.
Zeroing on these trends, experts from GSMA Intelligence shared in-depth insights from their research that showed key findings such as operators looking for new services to monetise, understanding consumer behaviour in relation to technologies like 5G, and awareness of eSIM technologies, all against the backdrop of there being opportunities for B2B suppliers to capitalise on.
Hosting the webinar was Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence, who was joined by Pablo Iacopino, Head of Research, as they took through audience members what to expect from the telecoms industry in 2025 and beyond.
“One of the most exciting trends that we see in the market is the rise of digital industries,” shared Pablo Iacopino, Head of Research, GSMA Intelligence. “There is an acceleration … of digital transformation of enterprises across vertical sectors.”
The important questions to ask, off the back of this, are, “Why are enterprises transforming? What is [it] that they need? What are the key priorities?” Understanding the answers to these questions, Iacopino explained, will be beneficial to suppliers looking to take advantage of B2B opportunities.
“Enterprises will spend 10% of their revenues on digital transformation between 2024 and 2030,” said Iacopino. “10% is a big number, and it means that there are opportunities for suppliers to capture a piece of this.”
“An important focus of our researchers is operators,” Iacopino continued. “How are operators evolving their B2B strategies? What are they doing to capture this opportunity?”
How are operators monetising?
According to the GSMA, 70% of revenue in 5G comes from consumers. The source of growth may come from enterprises, but consumers are the driver of cash flow. “Consumers and enterprises are equally important,” Iacopino summarised.
The adoption of 5G has been significant, particularly when the growth of adoption is compared with the adoption of other technologies. “In 2025 our focus will be on the next wave of adoption,” he said. “We forecast 2.6 billion mobile connections by the end of 2025 and this means a penetration of 29%.
“Another important aspect is what makes a consumer different from another consumer … every year we conduct a consumer survey across major countries, especially countries with faster adoption, and we track the user behaviour.”
Iacopino said that one finding from their research into consumer behaviour was between those who pay for 5G, and those who pay for 4G. “From our survey, consumers who intend to upgrade to 5G are willing to pay 5% extra compared to what they pay for 4G,” he explained. “5G users are more satisfied … On average, 82% of 5G users say that it has met or exceeded their expectations.”
In awareness of the importance of consumer experience and their satisfaction, Iacopino noted a rise in experience-based monetisation, as operators look to provide new propositions.
“This is important because it allows a greater link between faster broadband connectivity delivered by 5G and digital services [like] gaming, videos, streaming, immersive reality.”
eSIM technology
GSMA’s research into the topic of eSIM showed that they expect there to be new eSIM technologies and progress on specifications – but also that awareness of eSIM among consumers is continuing to grow.
“This is important, because if consumers use eSIM for international roaming, they are more likely to use eSIm for domestic mobile services,” said Iacopino.
However, adoption of eSIM remains in “the early stages”. According to Iacopino, the US is the only market where eSIM penetration is high, around 30%, and that is due to Apple releasing eSIM-only iPhones. The expectation is for eSIM adoption to grow – not just in the consumer segment, but in the IoT segment as well.
“The objective here is to scale eSIM beyond automotive, eSIM is already mainstream in automotive,” he explained. “There are single initiatives, rather than sector-wide deployments, so the focus will be on scaling eSIM and how it brings innovation to IoT.”
The most important trend?
With everything discussed, attendees wanted to know what trend GSMA saw being as the most crucial. Iacopino said he saw this being AI, because of its horizontal nature as a technology.
“There are implications for our devices, services, connectivity, networks, but also implications for how digital transformation of enterprises will accelerate,” said Jarich. “I think AI … is the most exciting trend we see in 2025.”
“We call AI a theme that’s going to be seen across all the other themes,” said Jarich. “The most interesting part of AI that we’ll hopefully see this year is a focus on how we’re building networks to support AI, as opposed to how AI can support networks. Time will tell.”
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