Ericsson tipped the global 5G consumer market to unlock $31 trillion for the ICT industry by 2030, pointing to potential for operators to tap $3.7 trillion of this by developing use cases in a number of spheres.

In a fresh report, the vendor forecast operators’ revenue in the 5G consumer market could rise as new opportunities are presented.

They stand to generate as much as $131 billion from digital services alone, including enhanced video, cloud gaming, VR and AR. The latter is expected to drive more than half of consumer spending on immersive media by 2030, with applications highlighted in gaming, shopping, education and remote collaboration.

Ericsson forecast operators could increase ARPU by 34 per cent by 2030 if they drive 5G consumer adoption by proactively bundling and marketing use of the technology.

Jasmeet Sethi, head of Ericsson’s ConsumerLab, pointed to the importance of use case development, tariff innovation, quality coverage and partnerships “to unlock the true potential of this market”.

He added opportunities from 5G for operators will be “enormous” in the consumer segment over the decade, with bigger gains set for those which “quickly and proactively evolve their consumer propositions”.