What will be the main technological trends in the telecoms market in 2024? Specialized sites and research firms take out their crystal balls to give us their 5 forecasts. On this year’s agenda: generative AI, 5G Stand Alone and even satellite connectivity.
1. Generative AI (finally) makes connected objects intelligent
Unsurprisingly, generative AI will be the big star of CES 2024, which will be held from January 9 to 12 in Las Vegas. “ From major chipmakers to home or medical device brands, the main theme will be how AI can enable new invisible and immersive experiences for consumers », Says Thomas Husson, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.
Better than Siri, Alexa or OK Google!, ChatGPT, Bard and others could become the future human-machine interface of our smartphone, our smart watch or our connected speaker. A small box that you carry with you, Humane, developed by former Apple employees, aims to free yourself from the mobile phone.
In the meantime, Samsung also intends to capitalize on AI. Ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra which will take place on January 17, leaks suggest new features such as the possibility of translating voice calls in real time, reducing ambient noise, summarizing notes, generating funds. personalized screen or automatically retouch photos.
To be checked during the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event. What is certain is that Microsoft is banking on Copilot, its intelligent assistant powered by ChatGPT. Windows keyboards will integrate, during the year 2024, a Copilot key, giving access to generative AI tools.
2. The smartphone, a universal key
The trend is ongoing and it will become widespread according to Deloitte. The smartphone is set to become essential for accessing websites, making payments online and in stores, unlocking a car door or using badges to enter a building.
By offering ” the right size, the right power, the right connectivity and the right confidence “, our mobile phone is the ideal medium to prove our identity, “ using fast and secure built-in biometric authentication capabilitiess. » By replacing physical keys and passwords, “ the volume of smartphone-authenticated transactions could reach hundreds of billions of uses per year in the coming years.”
3. An enriched 5G, while waiting for 6G
The arrival of 5G stand alone (SA) was announced for 2023, it will finally arrive this year. This “pure” 5G, without cohabitation with 4G, will finally realize all the promises made in 5G, i.e. a speed multiplied by ten and a latency time reduced to milliseconds.
With a virtualized 5G SA core network, telecom operators will offer new features such as network slicing. By virtually “cutting” a network into sections, they will be able to guarantee end-to-end security and quality of service for demanding use cases. In France, SFR recently demonstrated this during the broadcast of a football match.
While this 5G SA is being deployed, 6G is already approaching with performances that are causing the meters to panic. The new wireless communication standard will pave the way for new immersive experiences by offering omnipresent connectivity. The Fast Mode website points out that “ 3GPP will begin 6G standardization in 2024 with commercial deployments planned for 2029/2030. »
4. The internet from space
It’s happening above our heads. Following on from Starlink, megaconstellations of satellites in low orbit are multiplying to ensure connectivity across the entire surface of the globe. Recently acquired by the French Eutelsat, OneWeb intends to catch up with Elon Musk’s company while awaiting the arrival of Kuiper from Amazon and Chinese competitors.
According to The Fast Mode, there are already more than 3,000 LEO (Low Eart Orbit) satellites circling the Earth at approximately 550 km attitude, and this number could increase to 30,000 over the next six years. Satellite internet is an alternative for homes and businesses excluded from optical fiber and 4G/5G.
Still emerging, the possibility of carrying out mobile satellite communications in high mountains, in the middle of the desert or in the middle of the ocean using a simple ordinary smartphone should become established in 2024. Deloitte predicts that more than 200 million Compatible mobile phones will be sold this year.
After sending a message to emergency services as Apple offers since the iPhone 14, Starlink will allow you to exchange SMS messages this year, then make phone calls or browse the internet in 2025.
5. Less energy-intensive networks
With the explosion of uses, the environmental footprint of digital technology could triple between 2020 and 2050 if nothing is done to reduce it. In this context, ” telecom operators have a responsibility to build powerful next-generation digital networks with minimal environmental impact », Estimates, in an article, Mirko Voltolini, VP – Innovation, Colt Technology Services.
This implies generalizing very high-speed infrastructures. The switch to optical fiber makes it possible to divide energy consumption by three compared to copper networks, while the deployment of 5G increases the energy efficiency of mobile communications by 90%, we learn from an Arcep study. Operators are also making increased use of renewable energies and supporting the circular economy by reselling refurbished smartphones.
They should go even further in 2024 under pressure from the legislator. Mirko Voltolini expects a tightening of the regulatory framework, recalling that the last major update of the legislation on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) dates back more than 11 years. Here again, AI is expected to play a major role. Data management allows operators to improve the reliability of their networks but also their energy efficiency.