There’s been a lot of speculation in the market about the revenue upside for 5G operators.

Our latest Australian consumer survey shows there is good 5G market awareness and that 18% of subscribers would consider paying a price premium for a better 5G network experience.For the sports streaming segment we found:

• 33% would be willing to pay more for a better 5G sports viewing experience and
• Nearly 60% of sports fans said they would be interested in sports apps which allowed users to change viewing angles/cameras etc. (a 5G delivery feature)
• 38% of respondents would be willing to switch providers if another telco offered their favourite sports.

For the gaming segment we found:

• 20% of mobile gamers would be willing to pay a 5G price premium
• However when we looked into the gaming genres, action shooter games or Fortnite players lifted this willingness to pay to 43%.

Venture Insights believes a 5G product which allows subscribers to move to a separate 5G slice which provides enhanced data throughput would clearly work with the gaming and sports consumer segments and benefit the network provider if offered as a (for example) $5 – $10 monthly option.

The risk is that if Telcos stick with AYCE and unlimited plans, then the platform operators (such as Google Stadia) will benefit from the cloud based gaming subscriptions and take advantage of a better 5G network.

Contents

Survey Background

5G Awareness

Sports streaming

Sports Streaming Preferences

Sports Streaming & 5G

Mobile gaming market overview

Mobile gaming

eSports

Summary

List of charts/tables

Figure 1. Respondent Age Bands

Figure 2. Respondent Income Bands

Figure 3. Respondent awareness of planned 5G networks in Australia

Figure 4. Respondent willingness to move to 5G

Figure 5. Multiple sports streaming platforms available in Australia

Figure 6. Annual cost of sports rights in Australia (A$mn)

Figure 7. Most popular app for sports streaming

Figure 8. How much in total (across all sports apps) are you willing to pay per month to watch sports?

Figure 9. Sports streaming usage

Figure 10. Willingness to pay for a 5G enabled sports streaming service

Figure 11. Australian mobile gaming revenue ($A millions)

Figure 12. Key Players

Figure 13. In a typical day, about how much time do you spend playing games on your smartphone?

Figure 14. Would you be willing to pay more for a better 5G enabled mobile gaming experience?

Figure 15. eSports global revenue and audience growth 2016-2021

Figure 16. eSports audience demographics

Figure 17. eSports – most popular platform for viewing

Figure 18. Daily viewing minutes – eSports