5G subscriptions to reach half a bn in 2022: Ericsson Mobility Report

The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts that there will be 550 mn 5G subscriptions in 2022. North America will lead the way in uptake of 5G subscriptions, where a quarter of all mobile subscriptions are forecast to be for 5G in 2022.

Asia Pacific will be the second fastest growing region for 5G subscriptions, with 10% of all subscriptions being 5G in 2022. From 2016 to 2022, Middle East and Africa will dramatically shift from a region with a majority of GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions, to 80 percent of all subscriptions on WCDMA/HSPA and LTE.

By the end of 2016, there will be 3.9 bn smartphone subscriptions. Almost 90% of these subscriptions will be registered on WCDMA/HSPA and LTE networks. By 2022, the number of smartphone subscriptions is forecast to reach 6.8 billion, with more than 95% of the subscriptions registered on WCDMA/HSPA, LTE and 5G networks.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Ericsson, says: “Almost 90% of smartphone subscriptions are on 3G and 4G networks today and standardized 5G networks are expected to be available in 2020. We are already seeing a great interest among operators in launching pre-standard 5G networks. 5G will accelerate the digital transformation in many industries, enabling new use cases in areas such as IoT, automation, transport and big data.”

The latest Ericsson Mobility Report also forecasts that in 2022, there will be 8.9 bn mobile subscriptions, of which 90% will be for mobile broadband. At this point in time, there will be 6.1 bn unique subscribers.

As of Q3 2016, 84 mn new mobile subscriptions were added during the quarter to reach a total of 7.5 bn, growing at around 3% year-on-year. India grew the most in terms of net additions during the quarter (+15 mn), followed by China (+14 mn), Indonesia (+6 mn), Myanmar (+4 million) and the Philippines (+4 mn). Mobile broadband subscriptions are growing by around 25% year-on-year, increasing by approximately 190 mn in Q3 2016 alone. The total number of mobile broadband subscriptions is now around 4.1 bn.

Mobile data traffic continues to grow, driven both by increased smartphone subscriptions and a continued increase in average data volume per subscription, fueled primarily by more viewing of video content. In Q3 2016, data traffic grew around 10% quarter-on-quarter and 50% year-on-year.