Will consumers be willing to pay extra for 5G, and will it be worth it?
According to Ericsson the answer is yes, and the company is backed by a new study that tackles some ongoing industry myths.
That the leading Swedish 5G-provider is boosting the benefits of the technology is not very surprising. But the company is actually backed by solid research from one of the biggest ever consumer expectations studies.
– Consumers will embrace 5G. We can verify that in this report, but we also experience it in our D-Fifteen co-creation lab in Santa Clara where new exciting consumer services are being tested as we speak, said Jan Söderström, Head of Technology Office Silicon Valley at Ericsson.
The Ericsson report 5G Consumer Potential looks at the potential to benefit consumers, uncovering certain realities that bust ongoing common industry myths, like that there is no short-term benefits for consumers.
The key findings of the report are that consumers themselves believe that the new technology will provide relief from urban network congestion and give them more home broadband choices. According to Ericsson’s report, one-third of fixed home broadband users are looking to switch providers in the next six months and, similarly, 25 percent of households have more than 10 connected devices. The results also show that consumers are willing to pay a premium to their operator for better service.
– We see a flood of use cases being enabled by 5G such as Cloud gaming, Virtual reality, Advanced video services or other immersive media experiences, said Jan Söderström.
Some might characterize Ericsson’s report as self-serving and opine that it should be discounted. The report is, however, based on 35 000 interviews with smartphone users aged 15 to 69 years, carried out in 22 different countries.
