5G wireless broadband service is expected to cover up to 65% of the world population, or 2.6 billion subscriptions, according to a report by Ericsson, a Swedish networking and telecommunications company.
The Ericsson Mobility Report projects the number of cellular Internet of Things (IoT) connections at 5 billion by the end of 2025, from 1.3 billion at the end of this year.
In the next six years, 2.6 billion subscriptions for 5G service are expected, driven by sustained momentum and a rapidly developing 5G ecosystem. By that time, 5G is expected to involve 45% of global mobile data traffic, says Ericsson.
The average global smartphone user is likely to consume 24 gigabytes of data per month in 2025, up from 7.2GB now, in part driven by new consumer behaviour such as virtual reality (VR) streaming.
At 7.2GB per month, one can stream 21 minutes of HD video (1280 x 720) daily, while 24GB would allow streaming of 30 minutes of HD video, with an additional six minutes of VR each day.
Fredrik Jejdling, executive vice-president and head of networks at Ericsson, said 2019 was the year leading communications service providers in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America switched on their 5G networks.
South Korea has already seen a big 5G uptake since its April 2019 launch. More than 3 million subscriptions were collectively recorded by the country's service providers by the end of September 2019.
China's launch of 5G in late October led it to update its estimated 5G subscriptions this year, from 10 million to 13 million.
"It is encouraging to see 5G has broad support from almost all device makers," said Mr Jejdling.
In 2020, he said 5G-compatible devices will enter the market, which will scale up 5G adoption.
"The question is no longer if, but how quickly we can convert use cases into relevant applications for consumers and enterprises. With 4G having strong connectivity in many parts of the world, modernising networks is key to this technological change we're going through," said Mr Jejdling.
In Southeast Asia and Oceania, 4G will become the main mobile technology with 63% of total subscriptions by 2025, says Ericsson. 5G subscriptions are expected to make up 21% of all subscriptions in the region by that time.
Service providers and ICT players now have a bigger role to play in addressing new 5G-enabled use cases and applications, he said.
Another study by Ericsson, entitled "5G for business: 2030 market compass", found up to US$700 billion of 5G-enabled business-to-business value can be addressed by service providers by 2030.
5G subscription uptake is expected to be significantly faster than that of 4G, says Ericsson. At the end of 2025, 74% of mobile subscription in the North America is forecast to be 5G, the most rapid uptake. Northeast Asia is expected to follow at 56%, with Europe at 55%.