5G monetization is a crucial business strategy that opens up new avenues for CSPs to deliver on 5G’s promise of ultra-low latency, better network speeds and capacity, a larger number of connected devices, and the implementation of virtual networks (network slicing).
Business 5G Monetization Models
- The Business to Consumer (B2C) model will focus on 5G’s capabilities to provide consumers with outstanding service offerings such as content, diverse media, and fixed-wireless.
- The B2B (Business to Business) business model offers a lot of room for expansion. To increase the value 5G delivers to industry verticals, service providers will monetize managed connectivity, embedded connectivity, and VNFs.
- B2B2X (Business to Business to Any): In a nutshell, this model allows CSPs to earn money by charging businesses that provide 5G-compatible services or products to consumers. Because of the network’s flexibility, service providers will be able to offer embedded connections to application and device developers, allowing them to increase their market share.
Few 5G monetizing strategies for CSPs
- With Network-as-a-Service, you can break into the B2B market (NaaS)
The most lucrative market for 5G monetization is B2B. CSPs are using Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and 5G networks to provide new subscription services to their corporate clients with unprecedented flexibility and precision. Consider how businesses and utilities might develop new apps that track networked devices and grids down to the millisecond in order to better understand demand and supply. Or that healthcare companies may significantly improve patient monitoring of indicators like blood sugar levels and blood pressure, resulting in better health outcomes.
In the B2B sector, NaaS is a common strategy. Businesses can essentially employ network services on demand based on their need. CSPs must build a flexible network as a platform to do this at scale across industries. The foundation is laid by a business support service (BSS) system like Salesforce Communications Cloud. CSPs can utilize the platform to swiftly develop, launch, and alter their offers. When a business wishes to buy a service, it can use a self-service portal to swiftly configure, price, and quote it. The platform’s order orchestration fulfills the order without CSPs having to reinvent the wheel for each industry.
- To optimize the network, invest in a vibrant partner ecosystem.
5G monetization techniques necessitate some creativity. CSPs must collaborate with partners to provide value-added services as they investigate new industry use cases for their 5G networks.
Value-added services blur the distinctions between what a CSP can do on its own, within the network, and what a partner can do to optimize the network. Consider how Bell Canada, in collaboration with TSN and RDS, leverages 5G to give fans control over their viewing angle and zoom via their app while watching a game. For anyone viewing from anywhere, the experience is more engaging and unforgettable for fans.
As new demands emerge across industries, CSPs must develop trusted partner ecosystems. According to a recent Media survey, one-third of operators are planning to use a partner ecosystem management strategy in order to expand into new industry verticals. CSPs can collaborate with a partner to develop rates and charging models for a variety of value-added services across a range of industries.
- Provide specialized network slices
With a dedicated slice of the 5G network, a business user can enjoy fixed wireless access with increased end-to-end security. Slices are private network slices suited for drone surveillance, gaming, and virtual reality applications (VR). Consider 5G slicing like obtaining your own slice of the pie.
Network slicing can be used by CSPs to explore new pricing models for apps, enterprise collaborations, and even NaaS. There will be a limited number of slices at first, but as standards improve, the number will increase. Each network slice can be built around carefully controlled criteria such as network priority and service quality.
A CSP can sell a secure, high-priority slice to a firm in a B2B situation, allowing workers to work from home and access workplace apps via fixed-wireless connectivity. An event promoter may contract for access to a “premium” slice optimized to give the finest augmented reality (AR) experience during a concert in a B2B2C scenario. The event promoter may sell the AR-enhanced experience to superfans for access to the content and the 5G slice.
- IoT connectivity
The rise of IoT will be fueled by a 5G network with low latency (as low as 1ms), lightning-fast speeds (up to 4Gbps), and increased capacity. Consumer demand for linked homes, electronics, and automobiles is increasing, and 5G will help to accelerate this trend. According to predictions, there will be 20 billion connected IoT devices by 2023.
However, 5G speed will not be critical for IoT because existing 4G speeds currently support it. Because individuals can presently monitor their homes remotely, the 4G network has sufficient speed to allow IoT. The ability to enable multiple simultaneous connections with minimal latency is the most significant benefit of 5G for IoT.
CSPs will gain considerable recurring revenue by connecting millions, if not billions, of IoT devices.
The low latency of 5G will make it easier to implement innovations like self-driving vehicles, trucks, and drones. It will also enable IoT scenarios such as traffic, emergency, and crime updates in near real time. In order to obtain accurate position estimates, greater bandwidths, denser networks, and more linked devices are used.
- Broadband Internet Access Fixed
When industry standards have been defined, the revenue recurring scenarios indicated above will not be implemented. Because it is already operational, fixed wireless broadband offers the quickest path to 5G monetization. While most 5G scenarios are focused on mobile devices, fixed wireless is aimed at stationary places such as homes and businesses. The good news is that there is already a developing market for ultra-fast broadband in this revenue-generating scenario.
- Carry out phased trials
Because 5G monetization is still very new, telecommunication service providers can benefit greatly from phased rollouts. Phased rollouts, also known as trial rollouts, can give service providers with crucial information about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to monetizing 5G.
However, conducting staged trials is not without flaws, and mistakes can be costly. Service providers can create network slices and roll out services in phases in certain areas. They can use the newly launched services to gauge market reaction in a given location. The comments can be utilised to help inform the process of monetizing other services before moving into larger markets.