CCTV cameras and connected cars set to be largest markets for 5G by 2023

CCTV cameras are set to offer the greatest market opportunities for 5G over the next three years, but it will be connected cars that drive the market long term. 

That’s according to Gartner’s latest report, Market Trends: 5G Opportunities in IoT for Communications Service Providers, which predicts that by the end of 2020, 70% – or 2.5 million – of all 5G IoT endpoints installed worldwide will be outdoor surveillance cameras.

5G’s decreased latency, coupled with the wider coverage provided by its higher connection density, are ideal for surveillance because it means law enforcement, city operators and companies can deploy more cameras, stream feeds in higher quality and increase reaction times. 

By 2022, the number of these cameras is expected to rise to 11.2 million before the use case and technology is surpassed by connected cars into 2023.   

“The addressable market for embedded 5G connections in cars is growing faster than the overall growth in the 5G IoT sector,” said Stephanie Baghdassarian, senior research director at Gartner. “Commercial and consumer connected-car embedded 5G endpoints will represent 11% of all 5G endpoints installed in 2020, and this figure will reach 39% by the end of 2023.”

Elsewhere in the report, Gartner predicts this adoption will see the total number of 5G IoT endpoints more than triple globally between 2020 and 2021, from 3.5 million units to 11.3 million units, before quadrupling by 2023 to 49 million units. 

And by 2028, 94% of cars will be connected to a 5G service, relaying messages between vehicles, infrastructure, pedestrians, cyclists and other networks to improve road safety and traffic. Beyond these vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-everything use cases, sensors on connected cars could additionally monitor air quality, spot parking spaces and even locate missing pets. While potholes could be quickly identified and repaired at a time when traffic is low. 

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Other market opportunities

Other market opportunities forecasted by Gartner include connected commercial fleets and telematic devices, in-vehicle toll devices, and smart ambulances and other emergency services vehicles.  

Such trials are already being seen in the West Midlands, when in September last year, the region became the first UK urban 5G testbed area to launch under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Urban Connected Communities Project.

Proposed plans for this testbed include medical video consultations, live streaming of CCTV from buses and other public transport, “intelligent cameras” fitted with AI and "connected ambulances" that could connect paramedics with hospital staff en route.  

• Read the full Gartner report