CAMPBELL, CALIF.—After a three year study of 5G networks and client devices, Mobile Experts has released the 77-page “5G Architectures 2017” report, which provides an outlook for the 5G market up to 2024. The overall picture in the report seems to paint a positive outlook.

Mobile Experts took a look into a wide range of topics, including the cost evolution of 2G to 5G, the 5G standardization timeline and forecasts for RRH sectors and client devices. But one of the key areas of the study looked at millimeter-wave fixed-broadband, particularly in Asia markets.

Spectrum at 3.5 GHz and 4.5 GHz is expected to come to mobile operators in China and Japan over the next few years. Mobile Experts predict that dense Asian cities will need large number of radio heads for 5G, using sub-6 GHz bands to achieve the broad coverage required in a mobile network. This will eventually lead millimeter-wave 5G to be a key part of the overall 5G picture, adding capacity in hotspot location, which will ultimately help with the overall cost.

“Cost reduction is the real story behind 5G,” said Joe Madden, Mobile Experts principal analyst. “In the past, we’ve been cautious about releasing strong forecasts for 5G, but based on C-band spectrum and successful trials, we now calculate a positive ROI for 5G deployment.”