Global fixed and mobile business broadband to flourish from 5G

Only days after this year’s MWC demonstrated the massive optimism and demand for 5G communications, both on a fixed and mobile basis, research from analyst Omdia has highlighted the fact that providers of business broadband services continue to grow and upgrade their footprints in markets all over the world, and that broadband adoption has flourished worldwide and will continue to grow.

Omdia’s Global enterprise fixed broadband services forecast, 2020-27 and Global enterprise 5G mobile subscriptions and revenue forecast report, 2022-27 studies assessed the potential of broadband services in 67 markets worldwide and predicted likely market changes through to 2027.

The research found a number of enabling factors were driving the enterprise fixed and mobile comms markets. These include improved quality of services and changes in the way business buyers use network services. The result, said Omdia, was that buyers continue swapping out legacy dedicated circuits for higher-speed and lower-cost broadband alternatives. Wireless broadband was also growing in strength, with 5G the strongest complement yet to conventional wireline services. 

Omdia predicted, on a global basis, a fixed broadband services revenue compound annual growth rate of 2.8% over the next five years. The bulk of revenue growth is set to come from new primary and secondary broadband connections. That said, the study also found that fixed subscription average monthly revenue per mobile customer would barely budge over the next five years. Looking regionally, South Asia was seen to be holding particular potential for brisk fixed business broadband revenue growth, spurred by the potential for fixed wireless access.

On the mobile business subscriptions front, Omdia predicted that 5G would hit its global tipping point in 2027. As 5G approaches 500 million subscriptions, it is set to exceed a 50% share of the total mobile business broadband market.

That said, the analyst predicted there would be market disparities in global enterprise 5G adoption, as many countries are still heavily focused on expanding 4G networks. Africa and east/south-east Asia were seen as holding strongest potential for mobile business broadband revenue growth. Specific to 5G, Omdia cited south Asia, Africa, east/south-east Asia, and Latin America as all are strong market candidates that stand to gain rapid momentum over the next five years if operators take advantage of 5G’s potential as an alternative to wireline broadband.

“Enterprise migration to broadband services is an opportunity for providers to capture market share and grow revenue. The migration is still ongoing, and providers need to have strong infrastructure coverage to capture these opportunities,” said Adeline Phua, principal analyst for Omdia’s network transformation services intelligence service.

“Providers have growth opportunities in broadband services. But it means a commitment to continued investment in new and upgraded technologies,” added Brian Washburn, research director at Omdia for service provider enterprise and wholesale. “Providers need a solid foundation to gauge this opportunity. For this reason, we built our research on new analysis of more than 200 national operators and evaluated hundreds of business plans worldwide.”