According to a report by Juniper Research, the number of active retail roaming subscribers will reach 1.25 billion globally by the end of 2024 and will rise to 1.6 billion by 2028. It identified the increasing number of roaming subscribers using 5G networks as a key challenge for operators to fully monetise roaming activities.
As per the report, 5G subscribers will account for only 10 per cent of global roamers in 2024. However, this is anticipated to exceed 45 per cent by 2028. In turn, the report recommends that operators accelerate their investment into cloud services that enable more efficient real-time detection of roaming subscriptions over 5G networks. This will empower operators to fully monetise the $18 billion global subscriber roaming spend by 2028.
Further, the report notes that operators continue to struggle to monetise roaming services; owing to an inability to effectively identify roaming connections and activities over other networks. By connecting subscribers to global cloud infrastructure rather than through these networks and bilateral roaming agreements, operators will be able to offer higher roaming speeds and lower latency.
Additionally, the study predicts that the implementation of cloud roaming services will disrupt established roaming practices by enabling subscribers to access data services when travelling abroad via cloud applications; negating the need to access visited networks and thus roam. To maximise the benefits of cloud services over roaming, operators must ensure that they offer roaming subscribers an interaction platform that lets them view their own roaming activities, such as location, cost and data used.
