Telecoms: the 5 technological trends of 2024

What will be the main technological trends in the telecom market in 2024? Specialized sites and research firms are releasing their crystal ball to deliver us their 5 forecasts. On the program this year: generative AI, 5G Stand Alone or satellite connectivity.

1. Generative AI is (finally) making connected objects smart

Unsurprisingly, generative AI will be the big star of CES 2024 which will be held from January 9 to 12 in Las Vegas. « From large chip manufacturers to household or medical appliance brands, the main theme will be how AI can enable new invisible and immersive experiences for consumers “, says Thomas Husson, VP and senior 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 case that we wear on ourselves, Humane, developed by former Apple employees, proposes outright to get rid of the mobile phone.

In the meantime, Samsung intends to capitalize, too, on AI. Ahead of the launch of the Galaxy S24 Ultra to be held on January 17, leaks evoke new features such as the possibility of translating voice calls in real time, attenuating ambient noise, summarizing notes, generating custom wallpapers or automatically retouching photos.

To be checked during the Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event. What is certain is that Microsoft is betting 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, universal key

The trend is underway and it will become widespread according to the Deloitte firm. The smartphone is set to become essential to access websites, make payments online and in stores, unlock the door of a car or badger to enter a building.

By offering” the right size, the right power, the right connectivity and the right trust “, our mobile phone is the ideal medium to prove our identity,” using fast and secure biometric authentication capabilities integrateds. “By replacing physical keys and passwords,” the volume of transactions authenticated by smartphone could reach hundreds of billions of uses per year over the next few years”.

3. An enriched 5G, while waiting for 6G

The arrival of 5G stand alone (SA) had been announced for 2023, it will finally arrive this year. This “pure” 5G, without coexistence with 4G, will finally realize all the promises placed in 5G, ie a tenfold speed and a latency reduced to the millisecond.

With a virtualized 5G SA core network, telecom operators will offer new features such as network slicing. By virtually “slicing” a network into slices, 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 retransmission of a football match.

While this 5G SA is being deployed, the 6G is already approaching with performances that are maddening the counters. The new wireless communication standard will pave the way for new immersive experiences by offering ubiquitous connectivity. The Fast Mode website reminds that ” the 3GPP will begin the standardization of 6G in 2024 for commercial deployments planned for 2029/2030. »

4. The internet from space

It’s shaking over our heads. Following the momentum of Starlink, the megaconstellations of satellites in low orbit are multiplying to ensure connectivity over the entire surface of the globe. Recently acquired by the French Eutelsat, OneWeb intends to close its gap on Elon Musk’s company while waiting for 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 orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 550 km, 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.

The possibility of mobile satellite communications in high mountains, in the middle of the desert or in the middle of the ocean using a simple conventional smartphone is still emerging and should become established in 2024. Deloitte expects that more than 200 million compatible mobile phones will be sold this year.

After sending a message to emergency services as proposed by Apple from 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 impact on the environment “, estimates, in an op-ed, Mirko Voltolini, VP – Innovation, Colt Technology Services.

This presupposes the generalization of very high-speed infrastructures. The transition 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%, an Arcep study tells us. Operators are also increasing their use of renewable energies and are supporting the circular economy by putting refurbished smartphones back on sale.

They should go even further in 2024 under the pressure of 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. AI is, again, called to play a major role. Data-driven management allows operators to improve the reliability of their networks but also their energy efficiency.