As we enter 2025, Standalone 5G (5G SA) continues to struggle to deliver on its transformative potential. Operators are hesitant to embrace its high deployment costs without clear and immediate revenue opportunities. Despite promises of ultra-low latency, massive IoT, and network slicing capabilities, enterprise use cases remain niche, hindered by limited demand, high implementation complexity, and a lack of scalable business cases.
The industry’s 10-year upgrade cycle increasingly feels out of sync with the pace of technological advancements and user expectations. While vendors push 6G narratives, operators must first address the core challenges of 5G SA. Without tangible progress, 5G risks becoming an "odd G" — a technical milestone that failed to deliver financial returns.
Five years into its global rollout, 5G monetization remains elusive for most operators. While network utilization has grown and metrics like speed and coverage have improved, translating these advancements into meaningful revenue has proven difficult. South Korea stands as a rare exception, with operators successfully leveraging 5G for differentiated services and content bundling to create new revenue streams. However, this success remains the exception, not the norm.
In most markets, operators have focused on improving network efficiency. Mid-band spectrum (3.5 GHz) has been key in delivering speed gains, but it’s no panacea. Mid-band offers strong speed and capacity but struggles with in-building coverage, while low-band spectrum (sub-1 GHz) addresses coverage issues at the expense of speed. Efforts to re-farm legacy 2G/3G spectrum for 4G and 5G have generated cost efficiencies but introduced challenges like voice quality issues during transitions to VoLTE and VoNR, device compatibility problems, and rural coverage disparities.
The reliance on non-standalone (NSA) networks instead of 5G SA — which tether 5G radios to 4G cores—has further limited the realization of 5G’s potential. NSA networks prevent true 5G capabilities, such as ultra-low latency and network slicing, from reaching their full potential, undermining the marketing promises tied to the technology.
The industry must pivot from a narrow focus on network achievements to prioritizing customer-centric innovations. Without compelling 5G SA use cases and monetization strategies, 5G risks being remembered as a missed opportunity. Early steps toward open networks accessed via APIs for enterprise services offer some hope, but operators must act swiftly to prove 5G’s commercial value before the next generation of connectivity arrives.
Operators should draw lessons from Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), a rare bright spot for 5G. By leveraging existing mobile infrastructure, FWA has emerged as a cost-effective broadband solution, especially in markets with prohibitive fixed broadband deployment costs. In 2024, operators like Verizon and T-Mobile in the U.S. saw significant subscriber growth, cementing FWA’s role as a viable broadband alternative. Similar success stories emerged in India and the Philippines, where FWA addressed gaps in fiber penetration.
FWA’s plug-and-play model has been a game-changer for consumers, combining ease of self-installation with competitive pricing. However, as demand and traffic grow, operators must ensure that mobile network performance remains robust to support this increased load.
Looking ahead, fiber connectivity continues to outpace 5G in delivering on its promises. Operators must differentiate fiber offerings beyond speed, integrating advanced in-home solutions and modernized Wi-Fi experiences to meet evolving customer expectations. The emphasis on consistency and reliability, rather than just speed, highlights a shift in how broadband value is perceived.
Regulatory and market dynamics further complicate the telco landscape. Consolidation has gained momentum, with regulators beginning to acknowledge the sustainability challenges posed by heavy network investments. At the same time, policies like Europe’s Digital Markets Act aim to balance competition and innovation, though progress remains slow.
The next phase of connectivity must bridge the gap between technical achievement and real-world impact. Operators must embrace bold, customer-focused strategies to ensure 5G SA delivers both transformative connectivity and meaningful financial success.
Sylwia Kechiche is a Senior Director of Industry Analysis at Opensignal, where she leads the Market Impact analyst team in delivering data-driven insights and spearheads thought leadership efforts. Prior to joining Opensignal, she was the Principal Industry Analyst at Ookla. Sylwia also worked as the Principal Analyst for IoT and Enterprise at GSMA Intelligence, where she managed IoT and Enterprise products, including market sizing, custom consulting, survey work, and report writing.
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