Impact of COVID-19 on the Global 5G Infrastructure Market: A Brief Outlook

The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in a vast way. The global economy has come to a massive halt with the supply chain disruption and people locked indoors. With lockdown imposed across the nations people are stuck inside their homes, resulted in the surge of screen time.

This longer screen time requires high-speed reliable internet connectivity and as a result, the demand for 5G internet has been skyrocketed. No one can deny the fact that internet has emerged as a savior in this catastrophic time. From the evolving work from home culture to sharing essential news or services to one another, internet has revolutionized our lives during this time of utter disgrace of humankind.

On the flip side, however, the 5G technology market is witnessing a drastic downfall throughout the crisis. The interruption of the manufacturing of the 5G devices due to the lockdown and delay in the release of 5G spectrum has proved to bring adverse impact to the industry.

Current COVID-19 Scenario

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, governments as well as big mobile network operators considered the 5G spectrum to be a priority. However, with the rise of the pandemic, all plans related to 5G has been postponed and the industry is soaked into the inevitable loss.

Because of growing traffic and congestion, the mobile network operators are facing security concerns and rising number of cyber-attacks. This has shifted their focus to safeguard their existing service.

The primary operators in USA, China, and Japan have declared their accelerations plans for 5G to take advance of 5G benefits. On the contrary, the operators in countries such as Spain, France, Portugal, and Austria have already deferred the auction of 5G frequencies in view of the pandemic.

Vodafone has requested the UK government for the planned auction of 5G spectrum to be allotted fairly among the operators at the reserve price at a sooner date.

5G for Post-Pandemic Life

5G spectrum is believed to be crucial for the economy in the post epidemic era. This infrastructure is predicted to allow faster and perfect responses to future crisis with the help of advanced technology. Real-time tracing and monitoring, remote health services, online education, robotics innovations or autonomous vehicles will use 5G not only as the catalyst, but also for renovating operating models to enable fresher ways of business and social interaction.

The Post-COVID Scenario of the Market

Research has predicted that the 5G infrastructure market is going to revive from the adverse effects of the pandemic by the 1^st or 2^nd quarter of 2022.  According to a latest research report by Research Dive, the global 5G infrastructure market is expected to register a revenue of $41,766.5 million till 2027, growing at a rate of 64.6% CAGR.  

The presence of several channels which helps in developing the telecommunication sector within the various region across the globe is predicted to boost the market growth in the post pandemic period. Increasing demand of higher bandwidth data with higher speed among the users is also predicted in the post pandemic lifestyle. Apart from this, the demand of 5G in media and entertainment industry is predicted to drive the market in the upcoming years.

5G standard across the several end use industries which makes the quick connection possible which accelerates the development of applications at a faster rate and is predicted to create more growth opportunities in the forecast period. Moreover, with the help of 5G technology, the entire manufacturing supply chain will be interconnected due to which many end use industries will be benefitted.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.