Fifth-generation mobile technology will attract 1.5 billion subscriptions in the next six years, with 5G networks expected to cover more than 40% of the world’s population by December 2024.

That’s according to Ericsson’ latest Mobility Report, which predicts that 5G will be the quickest generation of cellular technology ever to be rolled out, beating the earlier 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE carriers.

“Key drivers for 5G deployment include increased network capacity, lower cost per gigabyte and new use-case requirements,” Ericsson said.

North America and Northeast Asia are expected to lead the 5G uptake. In North America, 5G subscriptions are forecast to account for 55% of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024. In Northeast Asia, the corresponding forecast figure is more than 43%.

Adoption will be slower in Western Europe, where 5G is expected to account for about 30% of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024.

The quick uptake of 5G comes on the back of an insatiable global demand for mobile data. According to Ericsson, mobile data traffic grew by 79% between the third quarter of 2017 and the third quarter of 2018, the highest rate since 2013.

China demand

“Increased data traffic per smartphone in Northeast Asia — mainly in China — has pushed the global figure notably higher. With a traffic growth per smartphone of around 140% between end-2017 and end-2018, the region has the second highest data traffic per smartphone at 7.3GB/month.”

North America still has the highest data traffic per smartphone, set to reach 8.6GB/ month by the end of this year.

Between 2018 and 2024, total mobile data traffic is expected to increase by a factor of five, with 5G networks projected to carry 25% of mobile traffic by the end of the period, Ericsson said. — © 2018 NewsCentral Media