TORONTO – 5G mobile subscriptions are expected to hit 150 million by 2021, led by Canada, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and China, according to a new report by Ericsson.
The latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report says that 5G will connect new types of devices, enabling new use cases related to the Internet of Things (IoT), and open up opportunities for new industries and verticals.
"5G is about more than faster mobile services – it will enable new use cases related to the Internet of Things”, said Rima Qureshi, Ericsson’s SVP and chief strategy officer, in the news release. “For example, Ericsson has built a prototype testbed for applying 5G networking functions and data analytics to public transport, which can save resources, reduce congestion, and lower environmental impact. ICT transformation will become even more common across industries as 5G moves from vision to reality in the coming years."
The report also predicts a significant increase in mobile video consumption, with North America data traffic per active smartphone growing from 3.8 GB per month in 2015 to 22 GB per month by 2021 as a result. In Western Europe, by contrast, the increase is from 2 to 18 GB per month.
With 20 new mobile broadband subscriptions activated every second, the global increase in mobile subscriptions is another clear driver for data traffic growth. As of now, there are the same amount of mobile subscriptions as there are people on the planet; in 2016 we will reach the four billion mark for smartphone subscriptions alone. Smartphone subscriptions are forecast to increase by 45% in Canada and the U.S. to 410 million in the next five years, adds the report.
