5G: Fast mobile networks have brought the world online | WARC | The Feed

5G: Fast mobile networks have brought the world online

New data from Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms and networking multinational, shows how 4G helped to bring the world online, how the pandemic accelerated how we all use mobile networks, and how the rapid spread of 5G will mark another turning point.

Ericsson’s Mobility Report for November 2021 looks back at the last decade of data use, one that saw 5.5 billion smartphone users come online.

Why it matters

5G is rolling out, sometimes controversially, sometimes for reasons that people don’t understand. But networks are becoming more widespread and devices that use the 5G signal are becoming more affordable; 5G connectivity – with all the possibilities that the additional bandwidth brings – is expected to be dominant by 2027.

The figures

• 5G is expected to account for around 50% of all mobile subscriptions worldwide, covering 75% of the world’s population and carrying 62% of global smartphone traffic by 2027.
• More 5G handsets in circulation earlier in the technology’s lifecycle has spurred incredible mobile traffic growth: mobile network data traffic was up 42% year-on-year in Q3 2021.
• In Q3 alone, mobile data traffic was more than all mobile traffic ever generated up until the end of 2016. Think on that.

Sourced from Ericsson