A new study has found that the total number of 5G connections will reach 3.2 billion by 2026; rising from 310 million in 2021. To maximise the monetisation of this significant growth in connections, it predicts that operators will accelerate investment into standalone 5G networks to best position their services to manage future capacity. Standalone 5G networks leverage next-generation technologies, such as network orchestration tools, to enable operators to monetise data‑intensive use cases, like remote healthcare and mobile gaming. The new study from Juniper Research says, identified automating network orchestration tools as a key priority for operators in monetising their 5G services. These tools allow operators to adapt network conditions based on AI analysis of traffic; providing more bandwidth to connections that need it, and maintaining service performance. Operators in China, Japan and South Korea have all implemented lower subscription costs, which have accelerated 5G adoption, thus enabling these subscribers to explore novel services that require 5G connectivity. By 2026, the report predicts that the average revenue per 5G smartphone connection will fall to $17 globally, from $29 in 2021; significantly impacting operator revenue. To alleviate this decline, it recommends that operators leverage orchestration tools to retain a network’s highest throughput and lowest latency for connections that require it. By utilising this approach, operators can justify charging a premium to these prioritised connections over other 5G connections, and slow this declining average revenue.

5G connectivity, network intelligence, and edge computing are unleashing a whole new world of opportunities such as the delivery of immersive experience using Metaverse, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality among others. The network infrastructure of the future will need to be even more agile and software-driven, to bring such possibilities into life. Asia Pacific is going to Account .