Amid declining telco capital expenditures impacting vendor profits, private cellular networking shines as a beacon of hope. Recent research reveals a significant 60% YoY increase in Q2 revenues for private cellular networking equipment, offering new revenue streams for industry giants like Ericsson and Nokia. However, with greater benefits come complex challenges that, if overcome, could potentially catapult the market worth to a substantial $7.7 billion by 2027.
As Rakuten Symphony’s CEO, Tareq Amin, unexpectedly departs, it heightens the mystery around the company’s subdued performance this year. Despite a promising start and securing a deal with Germany’s greenfield mobile operator 1&1, Symphony’s momentum appears to have plateaued. Yet a recent MoU with Veon to explore Open RAN solutions offers a beacon of hope. Amidst tricky market conditions and scarce major RAN deals, all eyes are now on acting president Sharad Sriwastawa to breathe new life into Symphony.
Despite the seemingly lagging global investment in standalone 5G networks, promising trends in the telecom sector indicate an upcoming surge. With minimal progress indicated by Global Mobile Suppliers Association’s statistics, the industry pins hopes on major moves from operators like New Zealand’s Spark and Vodafone. Meanwhile, the increasing adoption of 5G SA in private networks for various sectors shows an encouraging forecast. The journey towards profitable 5G investments seems complex, yet strides are being made in the right direction.
Crown Castle, focusing on a restructuring plan, intends to trim its workforce by 15% in response to telecom firms reducing investment. Alongside staff reduction, it will cease tower installation services while continuing to offer site development. Despite lowered earnings predictions, the second quarter of 2021 showed strong revenue growth, highlighting the company’s resilience in a challenging market.
In a remarkable stride, Bharti Airtel has connected over 20 million IoT devices via its B2B branch, Airtel Business, amid India’s 5G evolution. This permits a vast assortment of IoT features offered through multiple connectivity mediums. Major deals have propelled Airtel to surpass a key milestone. Moreover, the Airtel IoT platform facilitates enterprises to manage their IoT connections via the Airtel IoT Hub.
In a recently revealed Q2 report, Nokia showed flat sales at €5.7 billion year over year, suggesting reduced capital expenditure by operators. Interestingly, while a 5% sales growth in Nokia’s Mobile Networks unit occurred, a troubling 6% decline at the Network Infrastructure division offset this boost. With stark contrasts across regions, North American sales notably dropped by 42% as 5G deployments slowed, while energetic 5G deployments in India couldn’t adequately balance the losses. Mirroring these figures, Ericsson too reported a 9% year over year decrease in Q2 revenue. A gloomy yet realistic outlook from Nokia’s CEO Pekka Lundmark, coupled with analyst firm Dell’Oro’s forecast on the shrinking RAN predictions, suggests telecommunications could be in for a turbulent few years.
The future of telecommunications is rapidly changing thanks to the surge of Internet of Things (IoT) connections, with an anticipated 142 million 5G IoT roaming connections by 2027. This evolution promises increased speeds, reduced latency, and advanced services, setting the stage for a demand surge in standalone-specific 5G roaming agreements. However, despite these advancements, most connected devices will continue utilizing LTE-M and NB-IoT networks due to their compatibility with mixed traffic. A major hub for 5G IoT roaming is Western Europe, anticipated to host 21% of all such connections by 2027.
Ericsson plans a €155 million investment for a smart manufacturing hub in Tallinn, Estonia. BT will reduce its workforce by 1,100 at Adastral Park while investing in modernization. Cellnex acquires full control of OnTower Poland, expanding its tower portfolio. Unicon launches an enhanced partner program for resellers in end-user computing. NEC introduces a generative AI service to drive business transformation.
Telefonica teams up with Nokia in a bold move to investigate the application of private mobile networks within Latin American businesses. They aim to foster digital transformation across “promising industries”, including ports, energy, mining, and manufacturing. Despite 5G’s infancy in the region, Ericsson’s recent report suggests a promising future, predicting 5G will constitute 42% of all mobile subscriptions by 2028. Meanwhile, Nokia’s data reveals that a whopping 80% of companies implementing their industrial-grade private wireless solutions expect a positive return on investment within six months.
The US and India strengthen their strategic partnership, focusing on 6G research, Open RAN, and semiconductors, while collaborating on technology sharing, co-development, and co-production opportunities between industry, government, and academia.
