The latest Ericsson Mobility Report is clear: 5G is making record numbers as it will reach 1 billion subscriptions in 2022 and 4.4 billion in 2027. All with a development never seen before in North America which will be the geographical area with the highest penetration of 5G in the next five years, that is nine out of ten subscriptions will be 5G by 2027.
Do we really need 5G?
by Riccardo Luna
According to the Ericsson study, in fact, in 2027, 82% of subscriptions in Western Europe will be 5G; 80% in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and 74% in Northeast Asia. In India, where 5G rollout has yet to begin, 5G is projected to account for nearly 40% of all subscriptions by 2027. In global terms, 5G is projected to account for nearly half of all subscriptions by 2027. 2027, when it will exceed 4.4 billion subscriptions.
“The growth in traffic – explain the researchers – was determined by the increase in the use of smartphones and mobile broadband, as well as by the digitization of society and industries. Recent statistics and forecasts highlight the strong demand for data connectivity and of digital services, despite the global pandemic and geopolitical uncertainties: every year several hundreds of millions of people become new subscribers to mobile broadband.
The report also highlights the increasingly important role of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technology in delivering broadband services. Ericsson predicts that the number of FWA connections will exceed 100 million in 2022, a figure that is expected to more than double by 2027, reaching nearly 230 million. Finally, as regards the Internet of Things (IoT), according to Ericsson in 2021 the broadband IoT (4G / 5G) has overtaken 2G and 3G as the technology that connects most of all IoT devices, representing 44% of all connections.