An analysis of GlobalData’s Asia Pacific Mobile Broadband Forecast Pack reveals that APAC will be the largest region followed by North America, accounting for 44% and 32% share, respectively, in terms of revenue in 2024.

Ramya Sindhu Jetty, Research Analyst of Telecom Market Data and Intelligence at GlobalData, says: “With the help of low latency, high reliability and greater throughput, 5G is going to create demand and opportunities through platforms such as Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and robotics.”

Countries, which have early 5G launches, are likely to lead mobile data traffic growth over the forecast period. The leading 5G countries in APAC will be South Korea, China, Japan and Australia.

The average monthly data usage of consumer in the region is expected to increase from 5 GB in 2019 to 11 GB in 2024. At the same time, the global average monthly data usage is expected to be 9.98 GB in 2024.

Sindhu adds: “There is a higher probability that 5G is embraced in countries where 4G is the existing driving technology. Though various 5G networks are going live in 2020, 5G smartphone sales will be moderate due to the initial high cost and lack of network coverage at national level.”

The impact of 5G technologies will not be ascertained much in 2020 as operators and vendors are still working on the rollout plans. The share of 4G technology in the total APAC telecom market increased from 6.4% in 2014 to 49% in 2018. Similarly, 5G will reach 25-30% of the APAC telecom market by 2024. The growth rate of 5G will comparatively high due to more number of use cases such as IoT and enhanced MBB services.

Sindhu concludes: “5G wireless network is expected to influence not only consumer field but also segments like automobiles, manufacturing and IoT. Operators like China Telecom are looking to create a robust ecosystem of cloud, AI and 5G. In the 5G era, Asia will be the leading 5G market and will hold half of 5G subscriptions globally by 2024.”