14th July 2021, London, UK: 5G roaming via consumer mobile devices and IoT will generate a substantial surge in data roaming traffic, enabling new value-added opportunities and services for mobile operators.

According to new research by roaming experts Kaleido Intelligence, 5G data roaming traffic generated by consumer mobile and IoT connections will exceed 2,500 Petabytes in 2026, representing an average annual growth rate of 320%. This will represent a cumulative roaming opportunity of over $35 billion in outbound and inbound revenues for the mobile operators over the next 5 years.

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PRICING KEY IN DRIVING 5G ROAMING ADOPTION

Consumer roamers will drive the predicted uptick in 5G roaming revenue and traffic only if operators can charge prices that will resonate with the consumer similar to current pricing levels. Currently, 5G regional roaming spend is 10-20% greater than average roaming spend across most markets, translating into a global uplift of 13% in 2021.

Meanwhile, IoT roaming pricing will witness significant differences in average revenues per connection, based on the projected M2M roaming traffic (permanent and temporary) over the period to 2026.

Nitin Bhas, Chief of Strategy & Insights at Kaleido Intelligence added: “Operators must offer more cost-effective international roaming tariffs for 5G roamers or at no additional premium. Instead, they must focus on building other value-added services that can be delivered via the 5G network to mobile roamers. In comparison, it is quite clear that IoT roaming connections under different traffic profiles will require entirely different business models.”

5G ROAMING OPERATOR SURVEY FINDINGS

Kaleido surveyed nearly 70 respondents across tier-1 operators around the world on their 5G roaming plans and requirements in Q1 2021. The questionnaire was developed by Kaleido in partnership with leading industry stakeholders and contained 25 questions.

Key findings included:

• Around 33% of the operator respondents surveyed announced that they will launch 5G NSA roaming in 2021, with 32% confirming 5G SA roaming launch in H2 2021 or 2022.  
• Roaming analytics will play an important role in network slicing by monitoring the slice integrity and QoS commitments while expanding services to the international market, with 52% of respondents noting this as extremely or very important. 
• The most immediate requirement from a 5G SA roaming perspective was found to be interconnect models with 36% of respondents finding it as extremely critical versus 27% for VoLTE and Vo5G roaming support.  

About Kaleido Intelligence

Kaleido Intelligence is a specialist consulting and market research firm with a proven track record delivering telecom research at the highest level. Kaleido Intelligence covers a host of high growth telecom sectors, providing a complete research picture covering:

• Data Forecasts by Market
• Historical & Forecast Viewpoints
• Competitive Intelligence
• Strategic Insight
• Trend Analysis

Research is led by expert analysts, each with significant experience delivering telco research and insights that matter.