Voice-over-5G (Vo5G) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The Voice-over-5G (Vo5G) Market was valued at USD 2.15 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 145.99 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 98.9% during the forecast period (2021-2026). ‘Voice over 5G’ or ‘Vo5G’ refers to the voice services accessed through the fifth generation of mobile technologies. Although data services drive 5G evolution, voice/video communication-based solutions still account for a sizable portion of telecom operators’ services. Apart from supporting the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, and AR/VR services, the rising adoption of 5G network is also expected to redefine the voice services architecture for telecom service providers and their customers.

Vo5G is expected to help telecom service providers offer substantially improved voice capabilities, along with extra features, like ultra-high-definition (HD) voice communications, to their customers.

• The evolution of VoNR, the need for voice solution at the initial stage of 5G commercialization, and the accelerating VoLTE deployments are some of the major driving factors of the studied market.
• According to the Ericsson Mobility Report (November 2019), there are around 2.1 billion VoLTE subscriptions, and this number is expected to reach 6.4 billion by 2025, accounting for over 85% of combined LTE and 5G subscriptions.
• Many industry experts claim that due to more flexible and free OTT services, voice revenues for mobile operators may decline over the next five years. However, establishing a 5G-enabled IP Multimedia Subsystem infrastructure for VoLTE is likely to generate new revenue streams for mobile operators, thus, creating an opportunity for the studied market.
• With legacy networks shut down, circuit-switched voice networks are expected to be upgraded to all-IP core networks using the voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology. Developments in IoT-enabled voice assistant products are facilitating the development of voice communications with 5G commercialization.

Key Market Trends

5G Commercialization is Driving the Market Studied

• In 2019, Nokia made the world’s first commercially deployed, live, cloud-based 5G radio access network in North America.
• In August 2017, Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Festo, to jointly explore the 5G network application in the manufacturing industry and to promote the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry with the 5G network slicing technology. This MoU was mainly based on 5G cloud robotics to test the Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) concept, which is also a part of offering voice-based services in smart factories.
• In August 2019, Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom demonstrated the use of 5G technology for enhancing live motor racing experiences, with the help of Samsung’s end-to-end 5G mmWave solutions, including 5G New Radio (NR) base stations. The same equipment has been in commercial operation in the United States since the first half of 2019. The companies used the live video streaming capability to broadcast multiple views of the race in real-time over T Live Caster 5G, SK Telecom’s live broadcasting solution.
• In May 2019, Samsung Electronics signed an expansion contract with KT Corporation to offer public safety (PS-LTE) network solutions based on 3GPP standard Release 13 for ten major metropolitan regions in South Korea, including Seoul, by 2020.

Asia-Pacific is Expected to Register a Significant Growth Rate Over the Forecast Period

• Asia-Pacific is one of the significant markets for Vo5G, owing to the highly developing telecom sector and large customer base. Furthermore, the region is increasingly investing in the 5G market. Countries, like China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and South Korea, are increasingly investing in the development of the domestic 5G market, which is also expected to drive the Vo5G market in the region.
• According to GSMA, China is set to become one of the world’s leading 5G markets over the next few years, with Chinese mobile operators expected to invest an additional USD 58 billion in 5G network rollouts, over the next two years.
• The end-user applications of the 5G network are also increasing in the region, which is also expected to develop a space for the market studied. For instance, China Unicom, which is increasingly investing in 5G deployment, made a strategic collaboration with Intel for the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, with a focus on smart applications for the venue.
• Large telecom markets, like India, are also emerging as the fastest-growing markets for M2M services. In February 2018, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) (India) issued a policy document that offers guidelines to enable the introduction of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services in India.
• The India-based company, Tech Mahindra, is building 5G use cases with US-based hospitals, in order to help manage remote surgeries that may require seamless network connectivity.

Competitive Landscape

The voice-over-5G (Vo5G) market is moderately competitive. And, with the advancement in the 5G infrastructure, new players are also expected to enter the market.

• In April 2019, a Spanish carrier, Orange Spain, and ZTE completed their voice and data call over a standalone 5G network in Europe with 5G New R - In April 2019, a Spanish carrier, Orange Spain, and ZTE completed their voice and data call over a standalone 5G network in Europe, with 5G New Radio base station, 5G core network, and test devices. They achieved speeds of 876 Mbps for a single-user handset and 3.2 Gbps for 12 handsets, simultaneously. Furthermore, in May 2019, Huawei completed its VoNR call, which was made using Huawei Mate 20X 5G phones, representing a 5G standalone (SA) network.
• In December 2019, Ericsson realized the viability of standalone 5G, following its successful VoNR interoperability test along with MediaTek. The test used solutions from Ericsson and MediaTek’s commercial Dimensity 1000 chipset, deployed over a 3.5 GHz TDD band. Whereas, operators, like Verizon, stated their plans to gradually shift to standalone (SA NR) mode, where 4G core infrastructure reliance is absent, by 2020.

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