2025 is the 5G tipping point, and media will do the tipping

5G 2025
Image credit: C Z / Shutterstock.com

ITEM: The year 2025 will be the tipping point for 5G, and you’ll have media companies to thank for that. Or perhaps the other way around, as 5G will help media and entertainment companies generate nearly $1.3 trillion in revenues by 2028.

All this is according to a new report called “5G Economics of Entertainment Report”, conducted by Ovum and commissioned by Intel, which reckons that between 2019 and 2028, there’s a $3 trillion wireless revenue opportunity for media and entertainment companies to cash in on – and almost half of that will be enabled by the new capabilities that 5G will deliver to mobile networks.

To put that in perspective – and explain the ‘tipping point’ bit – the report estimates that by 2022, 5G will be responsible for just 20% of wireless media revenues (versus 3G and 4G), but by 2025 it will account for 57% by 2025 (hence the tipping point), and almost 80% by 2028.

Here’s the infographic version of the paragraph you just read.

intel 5G media entertainment

According to the Ovum/Intel report, the fates of 5G and media are intricately linked because 5G will not only eliminate the buffering wheel forever, but accelerate content consumption, including mobile media, mobile advertising, home broadband and TV. Video will account for 90% of all 5G traffic in 2028.

Moreover, the report says, 5G will not only enable “a whole new channel for content producers” in the form of AR and VR (which are forecasted to generate $140 billion alone in cumulative revenues between 2021 and 2028), but also the creation of new and immersive media apps that haven’t been invented yet.

One interesting claim from the report about why 5G will drive next-gen media:

Evolved 3G and 4G networks would offer a degraded experience because the capacity will be insufficient to handle the increased video viewing time, content evolution to higher resolutions, more embedded media and immersive experiences.

That may be true – on the other hand, given that 5G coverage isn’t expected to reach anywhere close to ubiquitous coverage by 2025, cellcos are under pressure to make sure that when their customers inevitably move out of 5G range, their 4G networks will be able to keep each user’s 5G experience running smoothly. Put simply, if 4G does offer a degraded experience, 5G-powered media services had better target stationary consumers. Which, if the 5G connection in question is the fixed-wireless version rather than real 5G, shouldn’t be a problem.

Anyway, the report comes with a very exciting-looking Intel ad disguised as an infographic, which you can admire here if you’re into that sort of thing.

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