According to a study by Ericsson, telecom operators could see a 5-12 per cent uplift in 5G average revenue per user (ARPU) if consumers opt to pay for differentiated connectivity. Additional revenue pools could be generated by exposing quality-on-demand (QoD) network application programming interfaces (APIs) to developers.
As per the study, with the number of smartphone owners who use generative artificial intelligence (GenAl) apps on at least a weekly basis expected to increase 2.5- fold in next five years, the rapidly growing category joins existing differentiated connectivity use cases such as video calling, streaming, and online payments that smartphone users say they are willing to pay a premium for.
The study highlighted that almost one-in-four GenAI users are already willing to pay up to 35 per cent more for guaranteed fast and secure connectivity for such high-capacity applications, while 35 per cent of 5G smartphone users surveyed say they would be interested in paying for differentiated connectivity for essential applications.
The study mentioned that the differentiated connectivity revenue generation potential for telcos will increase as they transition to performance-based business models, offering tailored subscriptions and plans with assured performance for different consumer segments in the market.
