Ericsson, a manufacturer and provider of technologies and services for telecommunications operators, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report published today, sees the number of 5G subscriptions almost doubled in 2023, where users will subscribe to 1 billion 5G subscriptions to secure the access to better mobile broadband coverage. 5G, whose implementation is expected first in high-density urban areas, will cover over 20 percent of the world's population by the end of 2023. The first commercial networks based on 5G New Radio (NR) should be operational in the 2019, while the major implementations will take place from 2020. The very first practical uses of the 5G network are expected in markets such as the United States, South Korea, Japan and China. "The latest report highlights the growth trends of mobile subscriptions and data traffic, as well as the efforts of sector operators to address the growing demand for mobile networks globally" commented Niklas Heuveldop, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Ericsson's Technology and Emerging Business. “Furthermore - he added - the report examines the emergence of new use cases as network capabilities evolve: smartwatches, IoT alarms, augmented reality-assisted maintenance and repair activities, to name a few. As we prepare for 5G, these trends will continue to set the mobile industry agenda in the months and years to come. " It is estimated that, in the period under review, mobile data traffic will increase by 8 times to reach 110 Exabytes per month by 2023. That is, the equivalent of 5,5 million years of streaming HD video. In all the geographic areas considered, mobile data traffic will continue to grow; North America, in particular, has the highest average smartphone data usage rate, which will exceed 7 GB per month by the end of 2017. The use of video continues to fuel the growth of mobile broadband traffic. The driver of this upward trend in the use of videos are young millennials (especially in the age group between 15 and 24 years) who use video streaming 2,5 times more than users over 45. Streaming video with higher resolutions and an increasingly widespread trend towards streaming immersive video formats - such as 360-degree video - will have an impact on the volume of data traffic consumption. For example, a 360-degree video on YouTube uses 4 or 5 times higher bandwidth than a regular YouTube video of the same perceived quality. By the end of this year, LTE networks will be the dominant mobile access technology. It is estimated that it will reach 5,5 billion subscriptions and cover more than 85 percent of the world population by the end of 2023. Voice over LTE (VoLTE) has been launched in more than 125 networks in over 60 countries across all geographic areas. Subscriptions to VoLTE networks are expected to reach 5,5 billion by the end of 2023, equal to more than 80 percent of combined LTE and 5G subscriptions. The latest smartwatch models launched on the market are among the devices predisposed to use VoLTE. Users can make voice calls directly from the smartwatch, without the need to have a smartphone nearby (multi-SIM).
