Ericsson just released the twenty-second edition of their authoritative Mobility Report, in which they continue to follow the evolution of the telecom industry. Ericsson calls out 5G as scaling faster than any previous mobile generation. This blogpost summarizes the key findings of the report from a 5G subscriber growth & global distribution standpoint.
Key findings from the Ericsson Mobility Report 2022
We have been discussing how 5G technologies play a key role in industry modernization due to their ability to provide broadband capacity that supports three key use case categories – https://www.vamsitalkstech.com/cloud/the-three-key-use-case-areas-for-5g/ . The mobility report covers areas such as 5G subscription trends, IoT connectivity and specific carrier examples.
The main subscriber growth insights from the report are as follows –
- Global mobile network data traffic doubled in the past two years. 4.4 billion 5G subscriptions are expected by 2027. The report [1] contends that 60% of all global mobile network data traffic will be over 5G networks by 2027. The report forecasts strong 5G subscriber growth, reaching 4.4 billion by 2027
- Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will account for 20 percent of all mobile data network traffic in 2022. The number of FWA connections will exceed 100 million in 2022 and will more than double to 230 million by 2027
- Globally, 20 service providers launched standalone 5G networks in 2021 and this number is projected to double in 2022
- In 2022, global 5G subscriptions grew by 70 million during the first quarter to around 620 million, with the subscriber count passing 1 billion by Dec end. North America and North-East Asia lead the world in terms of 5G subscription penetration, followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Western Europe. In 2027, it is projected that North America will have the highest 5G penetration at 90 percent.
- By the end of 2027, 48% of all mobile subscriptions will be 5G with the fifth generation reaching 1 billion counts two years before 4G did so.
- Over the next five years, North America will lead the world in 5G subscription penetration with 9 out of 10 in the region by 2027.
- While China leads the world in adding monthly subscriptions, India emerges as the next big market for 5G. With the government In India, where 5G deployments have yet to begin, 40% of all mobile subscriptions will be 5G by 2027. Global subscription breakdown by 2027-is forecast to be 82 percent of subscriptions in Western Europe; 80 percent in the Gulf Cooperation Council region; and 74 percent in North East Asia.
- Chief drivers for this demand-led growth are overall digitization across industries & government, and increased smartphone usage – all of which highlight strong demand-driven connectivity needs.
- On the Internet of Things (IoT) front, 4G/5G-based IoT broadband overtook 2G and 3G in 2021, accounting for 44% of all connections. Massive IoT technologies which are large deployments of lower-cost devices used in smart metering, agriculture etc, account for this usage.
- Massive IoT technologies such as Narrowband IoT and Cat-M1 increased by almost 80 percent during 2021, reaching close to 330 million connections.
References
[1] Ericsson Mobility Report 2022 Report for download