The world gears up for 5G: Ericsson Mobility Report

• March towards 5G opens up opportunities for new industries and verticals
• Mainland China overtakes the US as world’s largest LTE market

 
THERE will be 150 million 5G (Fifth Generation) mobile subscriptions by 2021, with South Korea, Japan, China and the United States expected to lead with the first, and fastest, 5G subscription uptake, according to the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report.
 
5G will connect new types of devices, enabling new use cases related to the Internet of Things (IoT) – this transition will open up new industries and verticals to ICT transformation, Ericsson said in a statement.
 
The report also reveals a significant increase in mobile video consumption, which is driving around six times higher traffic volumes per smartphone in North America and Europe (2015 to 2021). North America data traffic per active smartphone will grow from 3.8GB to 22GB per month by 2021; in Western Europe, the increase is from 2GB to 18GB per month.
 
With 20 new mobile broadband subscriptions activated every second, global increase in mobile subscriptions is another clear driver for data traffic growth, Ericsson said.
 
As of now, there is the same number of mobile subscriptions as there are people on the planet; in 2016 we will reach the four-billion mark for smartphone subscriptions alone, the company added.
 

 
“5G is about more than faster mobile services – it will enable new use cases related to the IoT,” said Ericsson senior vice president and chief strategy officer Rima Qureshi (pic above).
 
“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,” she added.

 
Other highlights from the latest Ericsson Mobility Report include:
 

• Video dominates data traffic: Global mobile data traffic is forecast to grow tenfold by 2021, and video is forecast to account for 70% of total mobile traffic in the same year. In many networks today, YouTube accounts for up to 70% of all video traffic, while Netflix’s share of video traffic can reach as high as 20% in markets where it is available.

• Mainland China overtakes the US as world’s largest LTE market: By the end of 2015, Mainland China will have 350 million LTE (Long-Term Evolution) subscriptions – nearly 35% of the world’s total LTE subscriptions. The market is predicted to have 1.2 billion LTE subscriptions by 2021.

• Africa becomes an increasingly connected continent: Five years ago (2010) there were 500 million mobile subscriptions across Africa; by the end of 2015 this number will double to one billion. Increased connectivity improves the prospect of financial inclusion for the 70% unbanked through mobile money services starting to take form across Africa.

• ICT powers the low-carbon economy: ICT will enable savings in energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all other industrial sectors. The total emission reduction could be up to 10 gigatonnes of CO2e, representing about 15% of global GHG emissions in 2030 – more than the current carbon footprint of the United States and European Union combined.

New to the report is the Mobile Business Trends appendix, Ericsson said. The appendix outlines eight trends that detail how successful mobile operators are using different ways to monetise the explosion in data consumption and growing demand for mobile services.
 
To download or explore the Ericsson Mobility Report, go here.
 
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