Ericsson: Global 5G Subscriptions to Hit One Billion in 2023
Following the increased adoption rate of 5G technology, based on its high speed of connectivity and reduced latency period, Ericsson has predicted a huge rise in the global adoption rate of 5G subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband, which it said, would reach one billion by 2023.
The prediction is among the key statistics presented in the current November edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report that was released weekend.
Expected to be deployed first in dense urban areas, the report said 5G would cover over 20 per cent of the world’s population by the end of 2023.
The 5G technology is an improvement on 4G LTE technology, which was introduced after 2G and 3G technologies respectively.
The first commercial networks based on 5G New Radio, are expected to go live in 2019, with major deployments from 2020. Early 5G deployments are foreseen in several markets, including the US, South Korea, Japan and China.
Analysing the report, the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Technology and Emerging Business at Ericsson, Mr. Niklas Heuveldop, said although African countries, including Nigeria were yet to adopt 5G technology, but he was assertive that Africans would soon begin to adopt the new technology, because of its ease of deployment, since all 5G base stations will eliminate the digging of roads to lay fibre optic cables, in addition to its speed of data connectivity and reduction in latency period.
According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, global mobile data traffic would surpass 100 Exabytes per month in 2023, while mobile data traffic is expected to surge by eight times during the forecast period, reaching110 Exabytes per month by 2023. This corresponds to 5.5 million years of High Definition (HD) video streaming.
All regions will maintain mobile data traffic growth, with North America showing the highest average usage per smartphone, exceeding 7GB per month by the end of 2017.
Video consumption will continue to fuel mobile broadband traffic growth. The driving force behind video’s uptrend are the young millennials, those in the 15 to 24 age bracket, who stream 2.5X more than those over 45 years of age, the report said.
It added that streaming video in higher resolutions and an emerging trend of increased streaming of immersive video formats, such as 360-degree video, would have an impact on data traffic consumption volumes. Addressing LTE deployments, the report said by the end of this year, LTE will be the dominant mobile access technology. It is estimated to reach 5.5 billion subscriptions and cover more than 85 per cent of the world’s population by the end of 2023.
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been launched in more than 125 networks in over 60 countries across all regions. VoLTE subscriptions are projected to reach 5.5 billion by the end of 2023, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the combined LTE and 5G subscriptions.
According to Heuveldop, “The latest report highlights trends in mobile subscription and data traffic growth, as well as the industry’s effort to tackle the increasing demands on mobile networks globally.
The report also featured three articles on rising industry trends to include: Shifting mobile data plans; Enhancing event experience, and Millennials’ expectations for 5G.