The emergence of 5G networks is set to unlock another wave of innovations in the media and entertainment industry. In the coming years, with a CAGR of 9.8% over 10 years, 5G will grow the global mobile media market from $190bn in 2019 to $420bn in 2028 and 5G revenues will overtake 3G/4G revenues by 2025 globally accounting total net new revenue coming from 5G for $200bn in 2028.
5G promises, among other things —data speeds 100 times faster than 4G, 100 times more network capacity, 10 times lower latency, and significantly more secure & steadfast connections. This will allow traditional content creators to push a far more advanced product to consumers—video is, in fact, expected to account for 90 percent of 5G data traffic —but the high speeds of 5G wireless will also combine with 5G’s latency, capacity and reliability improvements empowering entry for new competitors and new business models. Additionally, this evolving industry landscape offers consumers an abundance of choices to get the content and entertainment whenever they want, and on a wide range of devices.
These 5G technologies will enable the creation of new services and business models such as:
Augmented Mobile Media: Mobile media consumption has played a big part in the Long-Term Evolution(LTE) and it will be even bigger with 5G. Mobile media consumption will increase in terms of capacity gains coming with 5G, which will develop an ability for mobile operators to sell either high-data packages or even true unlimited services. 5G lowers the cost per bit over 4G which will benefit mobile operators as well.
Exclusive Immersive Media: Immersive media content such as virtual & augmented reality and gaming will become more interactive with 5G’s low latency and have the competence to create a whole new category of media. With 5G, the possibility of fully interactive gaming can be made both economically and technologically affordable with the benefits of low latency and Multi-access-edge computing(MEC) is not limited to the consumer arena.
Superior Home Broadband and TV: With higher network capacity, it will be easier for mobile operators to expand into the fixed broadband market. An operator can serve both the enhanced mobile and fixed broadband users from a common infrastructure with 100MHz of capacity. Additionally, the fixed broadband market, operators are then in a better position to offer other services, such as video streaming, either alone or through partnerships.
Distinct Entertainment: 5G will help to change the driving experience. The connected car will free up drivers and passengers to consume more media while traveling. An amalgamation of low latency, network capacity, and confined storage will improve car connectivity at high speeds, reducing network lag and stalling. It can also create new business models at places such as highway rest stops or gas stations implementing 5G hotspots, where drivers can quickly download maps or movies, or upload car diagnostics.
Enhanced Networks for High-profile Media Distribution: With 5G, network slicing can allow operators to provide media companies with dedicated networks for media distribution, ensuring operators to sell media companies and other content distributors with a guaranteed level of performance. Additionally, an operator could take a network slice and dedicate it to video streaming or to the delivery of high-profile real-time events. Certainly, these changes will take time and initially not every element of 5G will be available, but as 5G delves deeper into the network, newer applications and business models will be unlocked.