A new industry survey underscores growing interest in O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) technologies among telecom stakeholders.
Electronics manufacturer Jabil commissioned SIS International Research to conduct its annual 5G Technology Trends Survey. The study gathered responses from 193 professionals directly involved in the development, implementation, or adoption of 5G technologies at leading telecommunications companies.
O-RAN promotes open, interoperable network components to challenge the dominance of a few major vendors. By enabling smaller suppliers to compete with established incumbents, O-RAN is expected to increase competition, accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and limit vendor lock-in.
Most respondents (57%) believe O-RAN will be ready for broad deployment within the next two years. More than half (55%) say they are considering O-RAN in their deployment plans, and 22% report they already have a formal strategy in place.
Survey participants also largely agree that O-RAN will contribute to lower capital and operating expenditures across the industry.
Key 5G findings
The research revealed additional trends and expectations for 5G. Over half of respondents (59%) think 5G will create new business opportunities for telecom companies.
Historically, each mobile generation has been driven by a prominent “killer app”: 2G with text messaging, 3G with mobile internet, and 4G with live video. Interestingly, only 42% of survey participants believe a single killer app is necessary to unlock 5G’s potential.
More than half (53%) still believe 5G will enable new business models. An overwhelming majority (93%) expect 5G to foster closer partnerships between service providers and software or web services firms.
Respondents ranked industries likely to benefit most from 5G. Financial services topped the list, identified as the sector with the greatest potential for improvement through enhanced connectivity. Transportation—driven by connected vehicles and autonomous-driving use cases—ranked second. Healthcare placed third, with innovations in wearables and connected medical devices cited as key drivers.
“Continued growth in 5G complexity and diversity creates a wealth of opportunities as well as obstacles for traditional telco service providers, equipment manufacturers and software developers,” said Emanuele Cavallaro, president of Jabil’s Communications & Networking division.
“Our ability to collaborate with companies across the entire 5G ecosystem will push the boundaries of innovation to help 5G stakeholders reach their true potential.”
When asked about barriers to 5G adoption, 31% of respondents cited creating sustainable subscription models as a primary challenge. Other notable business-model concerns included government regulation (27%) and erosion of market share from over-the-top providers (25%).
Operationally, network mapping (32%) and a shortage of 5G-capable devices (31%) were identified as the most persistent issues.
Despite these challenges, telecom professionals remain largely optimistic about 5G. Sixty-five percent view 5G as a superior technology that will dramatically transform telecommunications—an increase of 16 percentage points since Jabil’s 2018 survey.
(Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash)
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