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Mobile operators to invest over $30 bn in open radio access networks

The Open RAN-compliant radio market to date has been dominated by Asian vendors Samsung, NEC and Fujitsu…reports Asian Lite News

Mobile operators are likely to invest more than $30 billion in open RAN networks globally by 2030, representing a CAGR of 24 per cent for the period, according to a latest report.

Open RAN stands for open radio access network. An open RAN is made possible by a set of industry-wide standards that telecom suppliers can follow when producing related equipment.

Open RAN network investments have increased steadily in recent years, driven primarily by greenfield network operators in the Asia-Pacific and North American regions, according to Counterpoint Research.

However, following this period of rapid network build-outs, greenfield operators are looking to lower capex in 2023 and 2024 and focus on network monetization.

Some Tier-1 operators, notably Vodafone, have announced major plans recently to deploy open RAN, but most brownfield network operators remain very cautious about additional investments in 5G infrastructure, particularly Open RAN, due to the uncertain macroeconomic climate.

As a result, the Open RAN market will stagnate during this and the next year.

“Investments will start to increase YoY after 2025 with network operators investing a cumulative total of more than $30 billion between 2022 and 2030,” the report noted.

Although the Asia-Pacific and North American regions will remain the largest Open RAN markets for most of the forecast period, Europe is expected to record the fastest growth with a CAGR of 108 per cent between 2023 and 2030 as its Tier-1s finally start commercial deployments at scale, driven partly by the need to replace legacy Chinese 3G and 4G networks.

The Open RAN-compliant radio market to date has been dominated by Asian vendors Samsung, NEC and Fujitsu.

However, Counterpoint Research expects that their market share will be impacted during the forecast period as other incumbents start offering Open RAN-compliant solutions.

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Health Lite Blogs

Mobile generation alert: Headphone overuse fuels health issues

The survey revealed a prevalence rate of 3.05 per cent for communication disorders in the Delhi-NCR area, 6.17 per cent in Kashmir and 2.4 per cent in Jammu…reports Asian Lite News

Indiscriminate use of headphones/earphones is pushing a significant number of people, even young children, towards hearing and speech disorders, said a new report on Monday.

The report by the Indian Speech & Hearing Association (Delhi branch) is based on a door-to-door survey across the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) and Jammu & Kashmir on communication disorders.

“The prevalence of communication disorders has increased to more than 3 per cent and their awareness levels remain low at about 11 per cent. Hearing impairment has increased within the 19-25 years age group (41.2 per cent) and the 26-60 years age group (69.4 per cent),” said Dr Rajendra Pratap Gupta, a public health expert and former advisor to the Union Health Minister, at an event held in the national capital on Monday.

“This a wake-up call for the ‘mobile generation’ to stop the indiscriminate usage of headphone/earphones, else, they would soon have to use ‘hearing aids’ instead of ‘headphones’,” he added. 

The survey, held from May to June, included a total of 53,801 individuals from 10,228 families from the Delhi-NCR area and over 6,000 individuals from 1,257 families in Jammu & Kashmir. 

The survey revealed a prevalence rate of 3.05 per cent for communication disorders in the Delhi-NCR area, 6.17 per cent in Kashmir and 2.4 per cent in Jammu.

Further, in Delhi-NCR speech sound disorders (SSD) showed higher prevalence rates in the 6-12 years age group (42.4 per cent) and the 13-18 years age group (31.1 per cent); fluency disorders were more prevalent among those aged 6-12 years (20.7 per cent) and 13-18 years (17.1 per cent); and language disorders exhibited a higher prevalence among ages 0-5 years (69 per cent) and 13-18 years (48.2 per cent). 

The report identifies varying prevalence rates for voice disorders across different age segments, with the highest observed in the 19-25 years age group (17 per cent) and 13-18 years age group (11.6 per cent). 

Vestibular disorders were more pronounced in the 26-60 years age group (8.7 per cent). Multiple communication disorders are most evident in ages 0-5 years (37 per cent) and 6-12 years (33.9 per cent).

In Kashmir, 57.6 per cent of the females and 42.4 per cent of males were identified to have communication disorders, whereas, in Jammu, 66.4 per cent of the male population and 33.6 per cent of the female population were identified with communication disorders.

Gupta stressed the need of a multi-stakeholder strategy to promote consciousness regarding the indiscriminate use of mobile devices. 

He also called for an expanded pool of trained professionals to address the mounting burden of speech and hearing issues, suggesting the inclusion of these disabilities in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and advocating for a nationwide campaign to enhance awareness.

“In the digital era, the escalating exposure to gadgets not only heightens the risk of speech and hearing disorders but also portends a severe shortage of professionals in this domain. Employing technology to foster awareness, screening, and treatment for these disorders is imperative,” said Gupta, also the founder of the Health Parliament, a Think Tank on Health.

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Categories
Tech Lite

Mobile, Internet usage to drive India’s digital ad spend to $21 bn by 2028

Apple announces contactless payments via new iPhones.

With users spending around seven hours daily on their smartphones, digital platforms have a good engagement rate…reports Asian Lite News

With the significant surge in the use of smartphones and Internet, digital ad spending in India is likely to reach $21 billion by 2028, a report showed on Tuesday.

Notedly, growth in user-generated content (UGC) will empower individual creators and influencers to build their digital identity, which brands can leverage for digital ads.

This strong ecosystem of 2.5 to 3 million creators is expected to drive marketing spending of $2.8 billion- $3.5 billion by 2028, according to the report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

The digital ad spend in the country is set to observe a muted growth in FY23 due to macro factors, post which it would account for 65-70 per cent of overall ad spend in India growing at a CAGR of 19-21 per cent.

“Upon mapping market sizing across media agencies, we observe a significant under-reporting of digital ad spend in India. However, our projection has considered enterprise spends, SMB spends, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing and gaming,” said Mukesh Kumar, engagement manager, Redseer.

With users spending around seven hours daily on their smartphones, digital platforms have a good engagement rate.

Some of the most popular performances driving digital advertising platforms include e-commerce, short videos, OTT, social media, long-form videos, and news outlets.

According to the report, global slowdown due to increasing interest rates, energy crisis etc., has led to new-age companies focusing on profitability and controlling their spending on ad and hence slower growth is expected in FY23.

Under the current economic headwinds, the ad market is estimated to grow by 6-8 per cent in FY23, said the report.

“We expect macroeconomic engines to pick up momentum again by FY24 since, after every economic downturn, eventually, consumer morale returns,” it added.

As the creator economy grows, it is essential to bridge the gap between brands and influencers through a centralised platform such as the creator marketplace, the report mentioned.

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Categories
Business Finance

HDFC deploys mobile ATMs

Customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the ‘Mobile ATM’, which will be operational at each location for a specific period….reports Asian Lite News

HDFC Bank on Saturday said it has deployed mobile ATMs across India to assist customers during the lockdown.

“At restricted, sealed areas, the ‘Mobile ATMs’ will eliminate the need for general public to move out of their locality to withdraw cash,” the bank said in a statement.

“During the lockdown last year, HDFC Bank successfully deployed mobile ATMs in over 50 cities and facilitated lakhs of customers in availing cash to meet their exigencies.”

Accordingly, customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the ‘Mobile ATM’, which will be operational at each location for a specific period.

The ‘Mobile ATM’ will cover 3-4 stops in a day.


“We hope our mobile ATM will provide a great support for people who want to avail basic financial services without having to venture far from their neighbourhood,” said S. Sampathkumar, Group Head – Liability Products, Third Party Products and Non-Resident Business at HDFC Bank.

“This service will also be of great help to all the healthcare workers, and other essential service providers who have been working tirelessly to combat the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, shares of HDFC Bank surged to a record high in January on the back of strong earnings reported for the October-December quarter.

Also read:HDFC Bank shares surge on strong Q3 earnings