During Mobile World Live’s Unwrapped digital event, Orange CTO Laurent Leboucher dismissed the prospect that economic pressures could hamper 5G uptake among customers, highlighting efforts to ensure it was cost-effective together with the creation of new services based on the technology. In his keynote, Leboucher said that, with 5G, Orange “addressed strong needs” of its customers and added that it planned to introduce differentiation and new kinds of services using 5G standalone (5G SA).
Despite global economic headwinds, it seems operators remain focused on efforts to monetise 5G SA and private networks, and address the demands of verticals. As of the first half of 2022, 27 operators globally offered commercial 5G services on standalone networks. By the end of 2022, an additional 15 operators are expected to have launched or transitioned to SA networks. Although industry verticals are likely to cut back in areas such as marketing or operations during a recession, private networks can provide tangible efficiencies and competitive advantages – something few will want to risk missing out on.