According to the newest Ericsson Mobility Report, the 5G uptake is faster than it was for 4G. Despite the pandemic, 5G subscriptions with a 5G-capable device grew significantly during the first quarter, and it is estimated that there will be close to 580 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2021. The new technology is set to penetrate every region of the world by 2026, with the highest share of 5G subscriptions close to 84% in North America. Service providers are continuously adapting their service packaging towards consumers, offering significantly higher speeds with larger buckets or even unlimited data. As it drives up usage, limitations such as daily allowances are also being introduced.

The 5G uptake is also driven by manufacturers, with over 300 5G smartphone models announced or launched commercially already. As 5G device pricing continues to decline, also those with mmWave support, more customers decide to upgrade their mobile plans. 5G subscriptions are estimated to reach 1 billion 2 years earlier than 4G. It is forecasted, that by the end of 2026 there will be 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions globally, accounting for around 40% of all mobile subscriptions at that time.

The service providers should be ready for an inevitable traffic growth, preparing new optimization methods for diverse QoS requirements of different applications, including the most rapidly growing streaming video and music, and gaming.

Further reading:

https://www.ericsson.com/4a03c2/assets/local/mobility-report/documents/2021/june-2021-ericsson-mobility-report.pdf