25th May 2021, London, UK: Kaleido Intelligence’s latest Roaming Data Hub – Q1 2021 forecasts that annual active mobile roaming trips will exceed 650 million in 2021, up from just 442 million accounted for by international travellers in 2020.

Following the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, overall prospects for a travel recovery in 2021 remain low and any increased activity is expected only from Q3 2021. This means that global international travel trips will remain just under 800 million, representing a growth of 44% in 2021, but 61% lower than 2019 totals.

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5G Roaming Outlook: 5G Roamers to Exceed 480 Million in 2026

Kaleido forecasts that the number of 5G roamers will reach 488 million in 2026, representing an average annual growth rate of 278% over the next 5 years.

Nitin Bhas, Chief of Strategy & Insights at Kaleido, said: “We have revised our forecasts for 5G roaming following delays from mobile operators in launching 5G roaming services in 2020. According to a survey conducted by Kaleido in October 2020, around 36% of MNO respondents confirmed that 5G roaming rollouts will continue as per the pre-COVID-19 roadmap, with 18% confirming delays in 2020.”

5G roaming is available in at least 24 international markets, offered by 31 operators, with another 5-10 market launches expected over the next 6 months. Deployments so far have been on 5G NSA network modes, with 5G SA networks expected to launch later this year.

IoT Roaming Outlook: Cellular IoT Roaming Traffic to Reach Over 800 Petabytes in 2026

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on businesses throughout the world. Cellular IoT growth is expected to restart in Q2 2021, with North America and Europe & Central Asia showing considerable growth potential. Key vertical growth areas here will consist of logistics and healthcare sectors, where the European Commission has already called for increased logistics and supply chain transparency, which will be supported by connected solutions.

Kaleido predicts that global M2M inbound roaming traffic will increase from 126 PB in 2020 to 817 PB in 2026.

Obtain insight into the impact of roaming traffic and revenues in your market by requesting an interview with Kaleido Intelligence.

Kaleido’s Roaming Data Hub, Q1 2021 includes roaming metrics covering both IoT and 5G Roaming, which are already impacting the roaming ecosystem and creating new revenue opportunities. The Data Hub covers 60+ global markets, enabling clients to make detailed plans based on over 100,000 unique datapoints.

See more details on the Roaming Data Hub

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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 is the only research company addressing mobile roaming in its entirety, 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.

* Kaleido Intelligence conducted an operator survey during March-April 2021 to understand the evolving economics of wholesale and retail roaming as well as the key challenges and consequently, the technical requirements from operators. Around 51 respondents from tier-1 mobile operators around the world were interviewed. Questions available on request.