Ericsson Reveals Unique 5G Prospects for CSPs in Qatar

A new Ericsson ConsumerLab report titled "5G Value: Turning performance into loyalty" has revealed some unique insights and consumer trends about 5G in Qatar.

The satisfaction and user-loyalty-focused report highlights the Communications Service Providers (CSPs) business case potential for 5G as growing number of subscribers around the world including Qatar express increased satisfaction with 5G.

It also reveals that unsatisfactory 5G connectivity experiences at key locations such as stadiums, entertainment arenas and airports can make customers globally up to three times more likely to switch communications service providers.

The comprehensive research reflects the views of 1,220 consumers surveyed in Qatar, including 670 active 5G customers, and also represents the views of 1 million 5G users and 2 million consumers in the country. This is part of the comprehensive Ericsson research series, which has tracked the evolution of the 5G consumer market since 2019.

The research also shows that the factors influencing consumer satisfaction in Qatar are themselves changing - moving primarily from 5G geographical coverage considerations to more application-experience-based metrics such as video streaming quality, mobile gaming/video calling experience, and 5G speed consistency - especially among early 5G adopters.

The research also shows that the factors influencing consumer satisfaction in Qatar are related to traditional metrics such as mobile data upload and download speeds, indoor and outdoor coverage, but also evolving to more application-experience-based metrics such as video streaming quality and mobile gaming experience.

Kevin Murphy, Vice President and Head of Ericsson Levant Countries and Global Customer Unit Ooredoo Group at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: ‘’The report has rehashed the transformative power of 5G and how consumers have embraced the network technology. The increase in user satisfaction with network performance and the impact of 5G on video streaming and augmented reality usage are truly exciting. Even more compelling for me is the influence of 5G network performance on consumer loyalty as users continue to switch to alternative providers for better service. We remain committed to supporting Qatar achieve its Vision 2030 as we continue to work with our partners on the country’s digitalization journey.’’

Other findings

The report addresses how a surge in 5G user engagement, and consequently mobile data consumption, is driven by the bundling of 5G rich enhanced video - such as 4K, 360-degree experiences, multi-view videos and augmented reality (AR) applications - on 5G plans.

On average, 5G users globally report a 47 percent increase in time spent on enhanced video formats over the past two years. The number of daily augmented reality (AR) application users has doubled since the end of 2020.

The report identifies four key trends in Qatar:

5G network satisfaction drivers are evolving to application experience. The number of users highly satisfied with overall 5G network performance has increased by 20 percent in Qatar. 64 percent of users are very happy with their 5G network performance, which is among the highest shares globally.

5G is reshaping video streaming and AR usage. The advent of 5G is significantly impacting video streaming and augmented reality (AR) usage. Users with innovative service bundles spent almost 60 percent of their total video streaming time on enhanced video content or AR, while those without such bundles spent almost half of their time on immersive content.

5G performance at key locations influences consumer loyalty. Consumer loyalty in 5G is heavily influenced by network performance at key locations. In Qatar, 18 percent of 5G users have switched service providers since the launch of 5G. Almost 60 percent of those who changed operators did so primarily due to the 5G network's performance. Their main performance related reasons for switching included speed, 5G indoor coverage, and 5G outdoor coverage.

5G consumers are willing to pay premiums for differentiated connectivity. 5G consumers are willing to pay premiums for an enhanced connectivity experience. The report notes that 21 percent of smartphone users in Qatar are willing to pay an average premium of 12-15 percent for quality of service-led offerings.