5G Network Roaming Subscribers to Exceed 200 Million By 2026

In an era where businesses are in a rush towards increased digital transformation plans, 5G connectivity is a prime facilitator of innovative technology models. As a matter of fact, it is a significant aspect to empower the potential of the 5G network.

The 5G trend is here to stay, and the adoption will continue to surge. Even a peak in 5G smartphone volumes is expected by the end of 2021. As we advance, 5G will provide substantial enterprise opportunities that corporates have just begun to recognize.

Research insights by JP Morgan in their recent study, “Global 5G Adoption: Is This the Network of the Future?” reveal 5G will exceed $180 billion in North America by 2030. Basically, the growing adoption of the 5G network is resulting in the successful commercialization of 5G networks across industries.

Business leaders are turning to this due to its dynamic features like high data rates, low latency, etc. – as it supports them in effective daily operations. Another similar report by  Juniper Research, titled, “5G roaming strategies: Future outlook, opportunities and market forecasts 2021” indicates that the global number of roaming subscribers using the 5G network and its services will grow from 4.5 million in 2021 to 210 million by 2026.

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As the international travel sector is slowly trying to recover from the global pandemic, operators now need to focus on increasing 5G roaming support – in order to fit in with the future rise around a demand for data when roaming over 5G networks.

The research   urges roaming vendors to develop 5G-enabled roaming features. This primarily includes:

• Roaming analytics
• Steering of roaming
• Sponsored roaming

These services will support the management of a rising number of 5G roaming connections, alongside the increase in demand for 5G roaming data. Ultimately, this will help operators maximize their 5G roaming monetization.

5G roaming data will serve 115 million hours of 4K video by 2026

As 5G roaming proliferates, the report predicts that vendor competition around the 5G-enabled roaming services mentioned above will intensify. Subscribers are expecting comparable bandwidth and latency levels while they roam over 5G to home network connectivity.

In fact, the roaming vendors will need to accommodate this demand via value-added services. The study also indicated that the worldwide roaming data traffic from 5G subscribers would increase from 2.6 PB in 2021 – touching nearly 770 PB by 2026.

Certainly, it represents enough data to stream 115 million hours of 4K video, particularly from streaming platforms like Netflix.

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5G technology will force roaming overhaul soon

Furthermore, the technology researchers identified that this estimated rise in data would compel the establishment of novel agreements – which explicitly cover 5G roaming data as well as provide roaming subscribers with comparable user experiences when they are away from the home network.

As explained by Scarlett Woodford, research author at Juniper Research, “As demand for international travel returns, operators must adjust to the significant uptake of 5G subscriptions during the pandemic. A failure to provide 5G roaming capabilities in key travel destinations will diminish brand reputation amongst subscribers and lead to churn to competitors.”