Younger Americans Show Willingness to Spend More for 5G Service, Says Intel

Many consumers see 5G as a “speed bump” but don’t fully grasp its potential impact on media and entertainment, said a Thursday Intel report. An August Intel report found 58 percent of Americans said they weren’t knowledgeable about 5G, leading the tech company to create a study illustrating new entertainment experiences 5G can enable. Consumers responded favorably in the latest study, said Intel, with 54 percent of participants saying they're willing to switch to 5G for their connected home needs. Among top uses Americans expect to benefit from 5G were next-generation TV (54 percent), augmented instruction (41 percent) and immersive live events (40 percent). Willingness to pay for 5G-enabled experiences skewed younger, with 72 percent of respondents ages 16-25 willing to pay a $20 monthly premium over current 4G service vs. 27 percent of Americans overall. Four in 10 respondents said they would pay an additional $10 a month for 5G to get faster speed (64 percent), reliability (43 percent) or responsiveness (36 percent). Business models will be “reinvented” in the 5G era, said Intel, as companies tap into new revenue streams and attempt to create relevance with their audience at scale. “In the golden era of television, having the best content in the world will cease to be enough if it gets snarled up in an inevitable communications traffic jam,” it said. Over the next decade, media and entertainment companies will be competing for a share of a $3 trillion cumulative wireless revenue opportunity, said Intel, forecasting 5G-enabled experiences to account for $1.3 trillion.