A new report by Ericsson ConsumerLab has shown that about 300 million consumers worldwide could upgrade to the fifth-generation or 5G technology in 2021.
Of that number, at least 40 million customers in India might migrate to the 5G tech within the first year it is made available.
The trials for the next generation technology are yet to commence in the country.
5G which will bring low-latency applications and open up new cases as well as revenue streams is being perceived as an improvement over its predecessor– the 4G technology, and this is reflected in consumers’ upgrade intentions too.
In fact, the report said India has the highest rise in intention to upgrade with 67 per cent of users expressing an interest to take up 5G when it is available, rising annually by 14 percentage points.
Consequently, Indian consumers are willing to pay 50 per cent more for 5G plans with bundled digital services, as against just 10 per cent premium for 5G connectivity.
With this, the early adopters have a set of expectations as well. 70% of potential early adopters of 5G in India expect higher speeds than 4G, while 60% expect innovation in pricing from telcos such as 5G data sharing between family members or across devices.
Additionally, it was observed that 5G is already triggering new user behaviors. In addition to reducing Wi-Fi usage, early adopter 5G users also spend an average of two hours on cloud gaming, and one hour on augmented reality (AR) apps when compared to 4G users.
Further, the report predicts consumers will spend 7.5-8 hours/ week on extended reality (XR) apps by 2025.
Interestingly, fixed-wireless access (FWA) is being seen as a potential opportunity for 5G in India, with a third of urban users finding 5G home broadband to be ‘extremely relevant’. They are also willing to give up their existing fixed broadband provider.
It highlighted that by the end of 2020, increased awareness of service and value benefits could have resulted in 22 percent more smartphone users with 5G-ready handsets upgrading to 5G subscriptions.
“Given that Indian Service Providers are preparing for 5G deployments, the Ericsson ConsumerLab study throws up some interesting consumer insights towards 5G that will help them encourage 5G adoption and meet consumer expectations,” said Nitin Bansal, Head of Ericsson India and Head of Network Solutions Ericsson South East Asia, Oceania & India.
The report–Five Ways to a Better 5G–is based on the consumer sentiment and perception in 26 markets–including the US, China, South Korea, and the UK, according to the report. It covered 1.3 billion smartphone users globally, including 220 million 5G subscribers.
