Study: 5G will drive satellite growth
October 28, 2020
By Chris Forrester
A study from analysts at Northern Sky Research (NSR) says that 5G telephony will have a major impact on future satellite growth and revenues.
The study says the introduction of 5G will have a “deep impact in the satellite ecosystem with close to 10 million active [revenue sources] by 2029″. These mostly new businesses will help provide $32.5 billion of extra revenue by 2029.
“Beyond the obvious use cases, like Cellular Backhaul and Trunking, a wide spectrum of applications will experience accelerated demand from 5G, including IoT, Private 5G for Corporate Networks, Mobility or even more conservative users like Government/Military,” says NSR.
“While 5G use cases generate a lot of hype, one must not underestimate the transformative power of 5G in how satellite networks are designed,” states Lluc Palerm, NSR Senior Analyst and report author. “Incorporating and standardising technologies like [Software Defined Networking//Network Function Virtualisation] SDN/NFV or Cloud, 5G Network Management System will be at the core of how future satellite networks are built, offering the scale and flexibility to optimally operate future VHTS, constellations and software defined satellites under standardised service orchestration,” adds NSR.
“Non-Terrestrial Networks were part of the definition of 5G from the beginning. In fact, the new access technology (5G NR) is modified to allow direct connectivity from mainstream devices to satellites. While performance levels might have limitations for some use cases, this is a game changer for applications like IoT and consumer devices via Satellite that now will have access to a vast addressable market counted in billions,” concludes NSR.