Mobile operators see 5G as an evolution rather than a revolution, and consider providing better mobile broadband coverage as the top initial use case for the technology, according to TM Forum.
A survey of 52 mobile operators and equipment suppliers conducted by the industry body found that 65% believe that better broadband coverage will be one of the first priorities for 5G.
Other early priorities for deploying services include ultra-HD video streaming (47%), smart city applications (41%), fixed wireless services (38%) and the connected car (29%).
Lower priorities include factory automation (24%), smart grid projects (21%), the tactile internet (15%), remote control of devices such as drones (12%) and digital health (2%).
Survey respondents indicated that they do not expect 5G to become any kind of radical change in the network, with many of the technologies and business models foreseen for the technology potentially also applicable to current networks.
But the survey also demonstrates a disconnect between the projections of operators and their suppliers. In particular, suppliers are far more likely to consider connected vehicles to be an early 5G service (50% to 29%). Likewise 65% of suppliers put connected vehicles in the top three potential 5G services best suited for a platform model, whereas only 27% of operators do.
Instead, operators consider smart city services (51%), ultra-HD video (39%) and smart grid (30%) to be the three best-suited technologies.
“It’s easy to understand why suppliers ranked connected vehicles so highly. Of all the potential 5G services, it’s certainly the one that has received the most attention, particularly with the development of autonomous vehicles,” TM Forum managing editor Dawn Bushaus said in a blog post.
“Most of the CSPs we interviewed are optimistic about the platform potential for connected vehicles, but it’s possible that other operators are hearing from the large automakers that they want to run their own platforms or that they are already partnering with large platform providers like Apple and Microsoft to develop ecosystems.”