Ericsson Predicts 1 Billion 5G Subscriptions in 2022

In its latest Mobility Report, Ericsson predicts that 5G subscriptions would reach 1 billion by end-2022. The vendor, however, emphasized the need to reduce the environmental impact of the increasing amount of data traffic.

In the third quarter of 2022, 5G subscriptions grew by 98 million compared to 3Q21. There were around 550 million 5G subscriptions at the end of 2021. Ericsson said that 228 operators have commenced commercial 5G services globally while 35 have deployed or launched standalone (SA) in public networks.

North America and Northeast Asia are expected to have the highest 5G subscription penetration by the end of 2022 at around 35%, followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries at 20%, and Western Europe at 11%. By 2028, North America will have the highest 5G penetration at 91% followed by Western Europe at 88%+. Ericsson predicts that 5G subscriptions will reach 5 billion by the end of 2028, 55% of all mobile subscriptions. Fixed wireless access connections will be about 300 million, with 5G driving almost 80% of them.

According to the report, population coverage for mid-band 5G had reached 25% globally, with the figure at 80% in the US due in part to large-scale deployments by T-Mobile US. Average data consumption per smartphone is forecast to exceed 19 GB per month in 2023. Video is expected to account for 80% of global mobile network traffic in 2028.

Fredrik Jejdling, EVP and head of business area Networks, noted in the report global mobile network data traffic was practically doubling every two years. “Data traffic needs to be managed with smart network modernization, combined with a balanced approach to network performance and use of energy-saving functionality to break the trend of increasing energy usage in mobile networks,“ he added.