• Ericsson ConsumerLab’s 5G: The Next Wave report is the most comprehensive consumer survey ever conducted on 5G.
• 5G users spend an average of one hour per week on metaverse services such as games in virtual worlds and augmented reality (AR) compared to 4G users.
• Half of 5G consumers currently using augmented reality (XR) services believe AR apps will migrate from smartphones to XR glasses within two years.

Ericsson’s most comprehensive global research ever in this area reveals consumers’ growing commitment to 5G and their expectations for next-generation use cases. Ericsson ConsumerLab, 5G: the next wave The report (5G: The New Wave) examines the impact of 5G technology on early adopters in several countries, while also examining whether non-5G subscribers are interested in the technology and their expectations in this area. According to the report, it is estimated that at least 30 percent of smartphone users will subscribe to 5G in the coming year.

The report highlights the behavioral changes that have occurred as a result of communication service providers (telecom operators) combining digital services with 5G tariffs, especially the increased use of advanced video and augmented reality (AR) applications.

5G: The Next Wave (5G: New Wave) also addresses the speed of 5G mainstream adoption, whether consumer demands are being met, 5G-induced changes in smartphone behavior and its impact on the network traffic.

More than 49,000 consumers in 37 countries were interviewed as part of the survey, the industry’s largest global consumer survey for 5G. The survey, which is also Ericsson’s most comprehensive consumer survey on any topic, represents the views of approximately 1.7 billion consumers worldwide, including 430 million 5G subscribers.

Jasmeet Singh Sethi, President of Ericsson ConsumerLabsaid: “The scope of the research allows us to understand the real opinions and attitudes of consumers about 5G. According to the report, new potential 5G users have different expectations of the technology than the first users. In general, consumers think that using 5G will be an important part of their future lifestyle.”

Sethi added, “It was interesting to see 5G stand out as a key factor in the use of metaverse services for early adopters, such as socializing, playing games and purchasing digital goods on interactive immersive virtual gaming platforms.” spending on augmented reality apps has doubled over the past two years compared to 4G users.”

According to the report, 5G consumers with experience using augmented reality (XR) will likely be the first to adopt future devices as they are more optimistic about the potential of mixed reality glasses. Half of 5G consumers who already use XR services on a weekly basis believe AR apps will migrate from smartphones to XR glasses in the next two years. The proportion of 4G consumers who have this opinion is a third.

According to the 5G – New Wave (5G – the Next Wave) report, there are 6 key trends:

1. Transition to 5G will resist inflation: By 2023, at least 510 million consumers in 37 markets are expected to switch to 5G.
2. New wave of users brings high expectations: Users who are just starting to adopt 5G technology have higher expectations of 5G performance, especially in terms of coverage, compared to the first users who prefer this technology because it enables new and innovative services.
3. Perceived 5G coverage stands out as the new consumer satisfaction benchmark. Geographic coverage, indoor/outdoor coverage, and coverage points in public areas are more important than the number of people using technology to create user perception.
4. 5G increases the use of advanced video and augmented reality. Over the past two years, the time 5G users spend in AR apps has doubled to two hours per week.
5. 5G monetization models are expected to evolve: 6 out of 10 consumers, It expects that 5G will not only focus on throughput and speed, but also provide on-demand network functions customized for specific needs.
6. The transition to 5G lays the foundation for the metaverse. 5G users already spend an hour more per week on metaverse services than 4G users. By 2025, an additional 2 hours of video content is expected to be consumed on mobile devices, and 1.5 hours in AR/VR glasses.