As reported earlier this week, the primary finding of the report is that TMT work is in for one of its biggest years on record, with the COVID-19 pandemic emphasising the need for businesses and consumers to adapt to a digital environment now more so than ever before.

“The post-pandemic world has accelerated change in the technology, media and telcommunications landscape, with telehealth, women’s sport and immersive tech leading the charge in 2021 and beyond,” the report said.

“[This report] highlights how many of these trends are being driven by the global pandemic’s economic and societal impacts, resulting in intensifying growth in video, virtual, and cloud technologies.”

In summary, here are nine trends Deloitte expects to play out over the calendar year:

1. The cloud migration forecast

“The cloud market in Australia will continue to grow in 2021, doubling in size by 2025,” Deloitte said.

2. 5G not hazardous to your health

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“In 2021, the proportion of Australians who believe there are health risks associated with 5G, or admit they don’t know about its effects, will fall below 20 per cent (down from 34 per cent in 2020),” Deloitte said.

3. Gaining an intelligent edge

“The Australian market for intelligent edge will be around AUD$590 million and will be mainly driven by telcos and hyperscalers,” according to Deloitte.

4. The next-generation radio access network

“We predict that in the next three years we will see the first live deployments of Open RAN in Australia with 30 per cent of these being from new MNO entrants,” the group noted.

5. Women’s sport gets down to business

“As broadcast deals commit to greater coverage of women’s games, we expect a re-balancing of broadcast hours with women’s sport to account for up to 25 per cent of total broadcast sporting hours by 2025, accounting for the vast majority of growth in total sports consumption and in new consumers of sport,” Deloitte said.

6. The hyperquantified athlete

“In the next 18 months, Deloitte Australia predicts that there will be an increased level of consolidation of athlete data platforms and associated services for Tier 1 sporting organisations as larger players look to broaden their capabilities and breadth of offerings in this market,” Deloitte noted.

7. TV’s new year resolution

“There is a dedicated group of loyal sports fans (approximately 20 per cent of Australians) who would be comfortable paying more than $30 per month for sport content placing it as a premium compared to the competitive streaming market and existing sport content propositions,” according to Deloitte.

8. From virtual to reality

“We predict that Australia will be in line with global trends, with VR, AR and MR sales growing by 100 per cent in 2021 over 2019 levels, as well as an increase in sales of software and services related to this technology,” Deloitte said.

9. Video visits go viral

“We predict that Australia will exceed the global average for telehealth adoption with more than 10 per cent of Australians regularly using telehealth services in 2021,” Deloitte concluded.