5G infrastructure revenue is projected to increase 89% year-over-year in 2020.
7% of global telecom operators have already launched 5G services.
| Expected to aggressively pursue 5G services for enterprises in the future

Global 5G wireless network infrastructure sales next year are expected to be approximately double that of this year.

According to Gartner, global 5G wireless network infrastructure revenue is expected to reach $4.2 billion in 2020, an 89% increase from $2.2 billion in 2019.

Gartner forecasts that investments in 5G NR network infrastructure will account for 6% of telecommunications service providers' total wireless infrastructure revenue in 2019. This figure is expected to increase to 12% in 2020.

“5G wireless network infrastructure revenue will nearly double between 2019 and 2020,” said Sylvain Fabre, research director at Gartner.

He then explained, “As of 2019, telecommunications operators are using NSA (Non Stand Alone) technology when building 5G,” and the reason is that “using 5G NSA technology allows 5G equipment to be built alongside existing LTE core network infrastructure.”

In 2020, telecommunications carriers are expected to introduce 5G SA (Standalone) technology, which will require 5G NR equipment and 5G core networks. This is expected to reduce costs for telecommunications carriers and improve performance for users.


Accelerating 5G deployment by 2020
5G services are expected to launch in several major cities in 2019 and 2020.

Starting with the United States and South Korea, several European countries, including Switzerland, Finland, and the United Kingdom, have already implemented 5G services. Telecom operators in Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain, Sweden, Qatar, and the UAE have announced plans to accelerate the deployment of 5G networks by 2020.

Accordingly, Gartner estimates that 7% of global telecommunications operators have already launched wireless 5G network services.


Telecom operators are strengthening their 5G service offerings to enterprises.
While the consumer segment is driving 5G development, telecom operators are expected to increasingly target 5G services at enterprises.

5G networks are expected to expand the mobile ecosystem and activate private networks for industrial users, opening up new industries such as smart factories, autonomous transportation, remote medical care, agriculture, and distribution.

Equipment suppliers see industrial private networks as a sector with significant potential.

“Private 5G networks are still in their early stages, but vendors, regulators, and standards bodies are ready,” said Fabre.

For civilian networks, Germany secured the 3.7GHz band, while Japan secured the 4.5GHz and 28GHz bands.

Ericsson plans to provide solutions to telecommunications operators to build private networks with high levels of reliability and performance and to secure communications.

Nokia has developed a portfolio that enables large industrial organizations to invest directly in Nokia's private networks.

“Nationwide 5G coverage will not be built as quickly as previous generations of wireless infrastructure,” said Fabre. “To maintain average performance standards as 5G is built, carriers will need to upgrade 4G infrastructure near 5G coverage areas to support 4G legacy networks.”“We need to strategically improve the city layer,” he advised.

Additionally, “for less robust 4G legacy layers adjacent to 5G cells, users may actually experience or perceive performance issues as they move from 5G to LTE,” he said. “These issues will be most pronounced between 2019 and 2021, when 5G coverage becomes more concentrated in downtown and densely populated areas.”