November 30 2018: 5G is expected to reach more than 40 percent global population coverage and 1.5 billion subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband by the end of 2024.
This will make 5G the fastest generation of cellular technology to be rolled out on a global scale, according to the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report. Key drivers for 5G deployment include increased network capacity, lower cost per gigabyte and new use case requirements.
North America and North East Asia are expected to lead the 5G uptake. In North America, 5G subscriptions are forecast to account for 55 percent of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024. In North East Asia, the corresponding forecast figure is more than 43 percent.
In Western Europe, 5G is forecast to account for some 30 percent of mobile subscriptions in the region by end of 2024.
Cellular IoT connections expected to surpass 4 billion in six years’ time.
Nitin Bansal, Head of Ericsson India and Head of Network Solutions, South East Asia, Oceania and India says, “LTE roll outs in India will continue and it is expected to be the most dominant access technology by 2024 accounting for nearly 81% of all mobile subscriptions in India compared to 30% in 2018.”
Mobile data traffic in Q3 2018 grew close to 79 percent year-on-year, which is the highest rate since 2013. Increased data-traffic-per-smartphone in North East Asia– mainly in China – has pushed the global figure notably higher. With a traffic growth per smartphone of around 140 percent between end 2017 and end 2018, the region has the second highest data traffic per smartphone at 7.3 gigabytes per month. This is comparable to streaming HD video for around 10 hours per month.|
Read the full Ericsson Mobility Report
India specific findings