Written by Nick Wood for Telecoms.com
Analyst firm ABI Research is predicting stellar growth for the 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) market.
Late last week it said it expects global service revenues will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59% between 2024 and 2031, by which time they will have reached $18 billion. ABI Research reckons those service revenues will be generated by some 200 million connections.
“The emergence of satellite-enabled mobile devices from major consumer smartphone manufacturers and chipset makers like Apple, Qualcomm, Motorola, MediaTek, Huawei, and ZTE indicates the upcoming introduction of satellite communications into the mainstream consumer market,” said Victor Xu, satellite communications research analyst at ABI Research.
However, “while exciting advancements are underway in satellite-to-mobile technology, it is important to note that the recently announced satellite services will initially prioritise low data rate communications through IoT-NTN technology,” he said.
Indeed, much has been made recently of mobile operators cutting direct-to-device (D2D) deals with low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers like Lynk and Starlink. Rogers in Canada, and the big three New Zealand operators Spark, 2degrees and One, spring to mind. However, it’s worth noting that the actual services being trialled are very basic, like emergency SMS, for example.
