Despite the slower-than-expected adoption of 5G reduced capability (RedCap) and enhanced RedCap (eRedCap) in the enterprise segment, the market outlook remains strong with 700 million global connections forecast by 2030, according to new research from Omdia.
According to the market research firm, the ecosystem for RedCap is evolving quickly, driven by several factors. These include:
- Chipset and module enhancements
- New use cases
- Successful trials
The trials have been conducted by U.S. telecoms AT&T and T-Mobile as well as the U.K.’s BT Group. New chipsets are being developed by Qualcomm, MediaTek and Quectel to improve the connections for the 5G technology.
Finally, the new use cases include healthcare, industrial internet of things (IIoT) and smart city applications.
"RedCap and eRedCap technologies represent a strategic evolution in IoT connectivity," said Alexander Thompson, senior IoT analyst at Omdia. "While adoption timelines may extend beyond initial projections, these technologies will play a pivotal role in future IoT deployments, particularly as the ecosystem matures and 5G SA networks expand globally."
Increasing adoption
Omdia said several factors will impact the pace of 5G RedCap adoption like:
- Expansion of 5G standalone networks
- Reductions in hardware costs
- Maturation of the IoT ecosystem
- Development and clear identification of enterprise use cases
What is RedCap?
The 5G RedCap specification was released with the 3GPP standard. It is designed to provide 5G capabilities to less complex devices that also consume less power.
While smartphones use full-featured 5G chipsets, these are unable to be placed inside devices like smartwatches, augmented reality glasses and other IoT devices used for healthcare, asset tracking, smart home systems, fleet management and more.
5G RedCap core design has a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz with a single carrier and comes without the requirement to aggregate multiple carries together. This allows for simpler and small antenna designs with one transmitter and one or two receivers, unlike the more complex designs required for 5G smartphones.
Not surprisingly, telecoms along with wireless equipment makers and communication vendors are looking to RedCap to expand their reach with 5G into areas that cannot be served normally with current technologies on the market.
The good news is also that 5G RedCap while reduced in capability still takes advantage of the benefits of the 5G network like improved bandwidth, download speeds and latency.
