According to Ericsson, the number of 5G subscribers at a global level reached 690 million as of the end of Q2
Nearly 70 million new 5G subscriptions were added globally during the second quarter of 2022, the latest update to the Ericsson Mobility Report reveals.
The Swedish vendor noted that this addition brought the total number of 5G subscriptions globally to 690 million as of the end of the period.
Ericsson also said that a total of 218 communications service providers have already launched commercial 5G services and 24 have launched 5G Standalone networks.
Meanwhile, Ericsson’s report showed that 4G subscriptions increased by 77 million to around 5 billion, representing 60% of all mobile subscriptions.
In the second quarter of the year, the total number of mobile subscriptions was around 8.3 billion, with a net addition of 52 million subscriptions during the period. China accounted for the most net additions during the quarter, with over 10 million, followed by India and Indonesia.
5G subscription penetration in North America is forecasted to reach 90% in 2027, according to Ericsson’s estimates. The Ericsson report also predicts that global 5G subscriptions will pass the one-billion milestone by the end of this year.
By 2027, 5G will account for 82% of total subscriptions in Western Europe, 80% in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and 74% in North-East Asia, Ericsson estimates.
In India, where 5G networks are expected to launch next month, 5G is expected to account for nearly 40% of all subscriptions by 2027. According to Ericsson’s report, 5G technology is forecast to account for almost half of mobile subscriptions globally by 2027, reaching a total of 4.4 billion subscriptions.
Meanwhile, according to a white paper released by ABI Research, “5G is growing faster than previous generations and has reached 100 million subscriptions in less than two years after the standard was published, when the closest generation was 4G, which reached the same mark five years after the standard.”
Moreover, 5G is expected to reach 1 billion subscriptions in 2023, five years after it was standardized, while 4G reached the same target after seven years, according to the research firm.
“Most of the growth in terms of subscriptions will be driven by developed markets, including North America, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific. These markets are already providing a fertile ground for advanced 5G services to be deployed, followed by enterprise services, which will drive significant productivity improvements compared to previous generations,” ABI Research added.
