Ericsson increases 5G adoption estimates to 600m subscriptions by end of 2022

Ericsson increases 5G adoption estimates to 600m subscriptions by end of 2021

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The volume of data carried beyond mobile phone networks around the world has increased by 300 times over the past decade, with more generated during the third quarter of 2021 than the entirety of man history before 2016.

Ericsson's latest mobility report attributed the dramatic just unsurprising increment to the greater availability of 4G and 5G services, noting that more than five.5 billion smartphones had been added since 2011 – the start yr it compiled such a study.

Traffic rose by 42% during the about recent 3-calendar month catamenia, reaching approximately 78 exabytes (EB). That figure is expected to achieve 370 EB by 2027 as 5G networks become mainstream.

Ericsson 5G adoption

"Mobile advice has had an incredible bear upon on society and business over the last 10 years," said Fredrik Jedjdling, Head of Networks at Ericsson. "When nosotros look alee to 2027, mobile networks volition be more integral than ever to how nosotros interact, live and work. Our latest Ericsson Mobility Report shows that the pace of modify is accelerating, with engineering science playing a crucial office."

The study reasserts the hypothesis that 5G will be the fastest deployed mobile generation in history, predicting there will be more than 600 meg subscribers past the end of the year – up from previous estimates of 580 meg. Stronger demand in China and North America, coupled with the availability of cheaper compatible handsets, has helped contribute to a net addition of 98 million 5G subscribers in Q3, compared to 48 one thousand thousand 4G additions.

Looking further ahead, Ericsson predicts 5G will be the dominant form of mobile connectivity, bookkeeping for half of all connections worldwide by 2027. Meanwhile, 5G networks volition cover three quarters of the world'southward population past the same engagement.

Across mobile broadband, the study predicts Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband connections will treble from 88 meg today to around 230 million in 2027. Meanwhile, massive IoT deployments volition account for more than half of all cellular IoT connections.

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Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile manufacture adept, covering all aspects of the Great britain and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and announcer with over a decade'due south experience in the technology industry, writing well-nigh applied science, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media.