Enhancing Customer Centricity for 5G Monetization

Mei Lee Quah is a Global Thought Leader in 5G & Payments and a Business Strategy Expert. She is an experienced corporate strategist having supported CEOs on high priority strategic initiatives. At Frost & Sullivan, she is part of a global network of Mobile & Wireless researchers that cover telecoms and payments. Prior to joining Frost & Sullivan, Mei Lee worked with and within leading telecommunications network operators in Asia-Pacific. She has faced corporate decision makers for the past 13+ years. She brings with her considerable knowledge and experience in corporate strategy and planning, strategic business development as well as planning and successful execution of new services, technology and regulation.

In a conversation with Prisila, Correspondent, Asia Business Outlook Magazine, Mei Lee Quah discussed the enterprise's faster 5G growth and challenges/opportunities in advanced use cases like autonomous vehicles and remote surgery.

What factors contribute to the higher CAGR in the enterprise segment compared to the consumer segment in 5G revenue?

• Specific value add factors for the target segment.

Firstly, the consumer segment has thus far been the main focus for mobile operators. So increasing focus on the enterprise segment will contribute to higher CAGR in the enterprise segment compared to the consumer segment in 5G revenue.

Secondly, on average, the enterprise revenue potential is 10%–30% of total mobile revenue for mobile operators. However, with 5G and greater enterprise digitalization efforts, this can reach 40% with greater contribution from 5G on the caveat that mobile operators partner to enable more affordable and differentiated services that add value to enterprises.

In what ways can mobile operators better understand consumers and enhance customer centricity for successful 5G monetization?

• Customers want services that suit their needs right away with easy accessibility. This means mobile operator channels to the customer needs must be simple and easy to use. Simplicity and ease of use are 2 factors behind the success of disruptive services that create new value chains and ecosystems. Fulfillment of the services needs to be digital, online, and in real time to satisfy the millennial generation’s need for instant gratification on the go. Manual, physical, and late are benchmarks of companies soon to become obsolete.
• Other ways include use of AI and analytics to craft actionable insights and through personalization of the relevant products or services for better customer engagement and lifetime value.
• M1 in Singapore is taking a unique approach in tackling the consumer segment, which has a good chance of succeeding. The company is personalizing the right digital services for better consumer engagement and monetization of 5G consumer.

How does the swapping out of components impact 5G monetization, and what decisions do mobile operators need to make in this regard?

• Mobile operators need to ensure that true 5G capabilities are offered in order for customers to benefit from and realize the value of 5G.
• For example, in the United States, the use of low band spectrum and dynamic signal sharing by major mobile operators, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, to cost effectively extend 5G coverage has resulted in speeds closer to 100 megabits per second (Mbps), which is comparable to 4G. With no comparable benefit to 5G, consumer trust has eroded, impacting the ability of mobile operators to monetize 5G. A re-launch of 5G to showcase its true potential may need consideration.
• For example, running 5G with parts of 4G, such as 4G core and low band spectrum, has impacted monetization of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). Similarly, the essential components of end to end beyond connectivity services, including orchestrator, platform, marketplace, and partner management, must be available together for the monetization of beyond connectivity services to work. Lastly, 5G without SA and 5G SA with full capabilities not available until 2025 does not offer the true capability of 5G.

"5G in healthcare is still at an early stage, and the industry has not yet fully explored the potential of 5G owing to regulation, standardization, and testing to commercialize initial ideas"

What are the challenges and opportunities associated with handling more advanced 5G use cases such as autonomous vehicles and remote surgery?

• The handling of the more advanced 5G use cases, including autonomous vehicles in transportation and remote surgery in healthcare, has seen a shift to 6G. As these use cases are still under development and with 6G targeting launch in 2028, 6G will have limited impact on these use cases. For example, including remote surgery as a 6G scope will not impact the healthcare industry.
• 5G in healthcare is still at an early stage, and the industry has not yet fully explored the potential of 5G owing to regulation, standardization, and testing to commercialize initial ideas. The route to commercialization in the healthcare industry will take some time. While telehealth is gaining traction, with the majority of providers developing telehealth programs, industry observers in ASEAN cite that they have not seen 5G adoption in remote surgery. According to them, this could be because of concerns around security and risks that have yet to be addressed completely.
• While the manufacturing industry is working toward achieving ‘lights out’ as its ideal target, achieving fully autonomous operations may take longer than anticipated owing to the continuous need for human intervention to automate, maintain, and reconfigure autonomous operations. It is only when this hurdle is overcome that ‘lights out’ can be achieved.

Why is the argument that enterprises should embrace 5G for future-proofing meaningless without defining the value of future technologies?

• This is because the telecom industry often spends time and effort to build in feature and functionality into mobile networks without considering whether what they can achieve would be of value to end users. Often it is the case that end users can find cheaper and better solutions elsewhere. For example, a clear example lies with positioning technology.