April 9, 2026 -
GSMA data shows 5G monetization remains uneven as telcos rely on consumer revenue and experiment with AI-driven business models.
By Yashasvini Razdan, EE Times
As 5G accounts for more than 30% of global mobile connections, the telecom industry is entering a make-or-break phase in which future investments and demand for next-generation network and compute infrastructure will hinge on whether operators can finally monetize standalone networks, AI-driven services, and enterprise use cases.
Despite the rapid uptake, monetization remains uneven. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications Association’s (GSMA) Global Mobile Trends 2026 report, 5G accounts for nearly 2.8 billion connections worldwide, yet mobile revenue growth has been “sluggish for much of the 5G era,” often barely keeping pace with inflation. The report states that only around 20% of operators with 5G networks have deployed a standalone (SA) architecture, considered critical to unlocking advanced services such as network slicing and low-latency applications.