Ericsson: Half a Billion 5G Subscription by the End of 2021

Ericsson in its Monthly report said that 5G subscriptions will exceed 580 million by the end of 2021. The telecom vendor also said that during the period, over 1 million people will join 5G daily.

Rapid Adoption of 5G, Predicted by Ericsson

The forecast thus highlights the fact that 5G will become the fastest adopted mobile generation ever. The report said that by 2026, 5G will have about 3.5 billion subscriptions and will cover 60% world population. However, the adoption will vary from region to region. So far, Europe is already falling behind markets like China, the US, Korea, Japan and the Middle East in 5G deployments.

Ericsson's report also added that 5G will cross a billion users 2 years before 4G managed that milestone. The report mentioned China’s earlier commitment to 5G, the earlier availability and increasing affordability of commercial 5G devices as key factors for that. The report mentioned that companies have already announced or launched over 300 5G smartphone models.

For the future, Ericsson estimates that this momentum will continue to drive 5G adoption for years. COVID-19, and the role of connectivity in post-pandemic economic recovery will play a key role in that.

The report also mentioned region-wise 5G adoption across the world. First, North East Asia will account for the largest share of 5G subscriptions by 2026 per estimates. The region will have an estimated 1.4 billion 5G users. However, North America and Middle East will have the highest 5G subscription penetration by that time. In these regions, the report estimates 84% and 73% 5G penetration respectively.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive VP, Head of Networks, Ericsson, said, “the Ericsson Mobility Report shows that we are in the next phase of 5G, with accelerating roll-outs and coverage expansion in pioneer markets such as China, the USA and South Korea. Now is the time for advanced use cases to start materializing and deliver on the promise of 5G".

He added, "businesses and societies are also preparing for a post-pandemic world, with 5G-powered digitalization playing a critical role".

Increasing Mobile Data Usage

The report mentioned that global mobile data traffic - excluding traffic generated by fixed wireless access (FWA) - exceeded 49 EB/month at the end of 2020. The report further estimated a growth of 500%, with data usage reaching 237 EB/month in 2026. EB here stands for Exabyte, a unit of data which is equal to 1 billion GB.

Moreover, the report also said that smartphone data usage will also increase by 3.5 times. Globally, the average usage-per-smartphone now exceeds 10 GB/month. Ericsson estimated that it will reach reach 35 GB/month by the end of 2026.

Time for Massive IoT

The report also said that Massive IoT technology (NB-IoT and Cat-M) connections will increase by almost 80% during 2021, to reach 330 million connections. By 2026, NB-IoT and Cat-M will have 46% of all cellular IoT connections.