Global telcos are encountering plateaus in growth and profitability. Adoption strategies for these corporations are also being questioned, including incorporating 5G to monetize technological advancements.

The critical question remains: Are telcos sufficiently leveraging 5G for monetization? If not, what factors are contributing to their hesitation?

In this article, Virtusa’s Niladri Shekhar Dutta analyzes the potential causes for why companies are reluctant to adopt and monetize 5G:

While adopting 5G provides the best consumer experiences and delivers the highest quality of service, returns on investment primarily stem from enterprise and wholesale adoption, not just on a consumer level.
Nearly 80% of global Tier-1 telcos have yet to embrace both access and core on 5G and remain reluctant to deploy industrialized 5G use cases at scale.
Unless the transition from non-standalone 5G becomes standalone, most telcos will resist 5G adoption while remaining partial to Naas (Network as a Service).
In the modern landscape, an Operations Support System (OSS) domain must be aligned to support the orchestration and automation of various use cases within a desired 5G domain – which means telcos must transition to a fully digital OOS to support a 5G monetization strategy.
The prevailing organizational DNA of most global Tier-1 telcos remains connectivity-only, not technology-enabled. However, 5G is a technology-led transformation experience beyond just connectivity.

Despite these challenges, 5G monetization remains imperative in helping telcos transition into future-ready technology companies. Competitive readiness in telco business and operations hinges on applications, connectivity, and over-the-top services, underscoring the importance of embracing and monetizing 5G adoption.