Global: Attitudes towards 5G
The global rollout of 5G began a few years ago, but the high-speed mobile network technology is far from omnipresent. Markets such as India have seen multibillion-dollar auctions for the 5G spectrum, while networks such as Verizon in the US are looking to progress towards a 5G “core”.
With the technology out of its infancy but not quite widespread, it’s a good time to look at where public opinion stands across the world. YouGov Global Profiles allows us to look at consumer attitudes towards 5G markets across APAC, MENA, Europe, and the Americas.
The data shows that, broadly, consumers are more likely to believe the technology represents an improvement than not. Aggregating data from all markets in our database, six in ten believe it has bettered their digital experience, compared to one in nine who believe it has not (12%). Consumers in APAC are most likely to be favourable towards the technology (65% agree it has improved their experience vs. 9% who believe otherwise), while consumers in Europe are less convinced (43% vs. 23%). In each region, there are at least a quarter of respondents whose opinions don’t fall into either extreme.
This enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily mean a majority are willing to pay more for 5G. Across all markets in YouGov Global Profiles, just a third agree they would fork out for the technology (34%), with a similar proportion saying the opposite (31%). Consumers in MENA are most open to paying a 5G premium (43% agree vs 22% disagree), while Europeans are least open to it (19% vs. 54%).
More worryingly for companies offering 5G products, consumers still have concerns. When asked, 45% of all respondents in our database agree they are concerned about safety risks if the technology fails, with just 17% disagreeing. These attitudes may have something to do with the assorted conspiracy theories around 5G that have proliferated over the years.
Providers should also be mindful that a number of consumers are worried about 5G and data privacy. Some two in five say they have concerns, with fewer than one in five saying they don’t (44% vs. 18%).
Methodology
YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 43 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 16+ years in China and 18+ years in other markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from India and UAE, which use urban representative samples, and China, Egypt, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, which use online representative samples. Learn more about Global Profiles.
Discover more tech content here
Want to run your own research? Start building a survey now