5G mobile subscriptions to reach 150 mln by 2021

“ICT transformation will become even more common across industries as 5G moves from vision to reality in the coming years”, said Rima Qureshi, chief strategy officer of Ericsson. Also, 70 percent of all mobile data traffic will be derived from mobile devices.

Smartphone subscriptions on the rise: The region as a whole had around 690 million mobile subscriptions at the end of 2015. By 2021, this number is forecast to reach 430 million accounting for around 50 percent of all mobile subscriptions.

The report predicted that 5G subscription uptake expected to be faster than 4G as it also includes connection for Internet of Things (IoT). 5G will connect new types of devices, enabling new use cases related to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Nov 17 Swedish telecoms network gear maker Ericsson on Tuesday raised its forecast for mobile data traffic growth as the use of video increases while the number of smartphone subscriptions continues to rise. The report found that every second, a mobile connection got activated in India. Data traffic per active smartphone in North America will grow from 3.8 to 22 GB per month by 2021 and from 2 to 18 GB per month in Western Europe.

Fredrik Jejdling, Regional Head of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa, says: “In Sub-Saharan Africa, the dividends of connecting the unconnected through mobile broadband access and driving new services can not be overlooked as it allows business and society to fulfil their potential and create a more sustainable future”.

Mainland China overtakes the USA as world’s largest LTE market: By the end of 2015, Mainland China will have 350 million LTE subscriptions – almost 35 percent of the world’s total LTE subscriptions. Owing to the high ownership of smartphone devices and the increased availability of faster connectivity, the time spent consuming video content on mobile devices in advanced markets such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is notably high.

LTE subscriptions to reach 290 million by 2021: Around 40 percent of countries in the region have launched LTE, but the technology only accounts for around 4 percent of subscriptions, most of which are concentrated in the Gulf countries.

“Based on recent network measurements, a stronger than anticipated growth of average data traffic consumption per user resulted in a significant upward adjustment of our forecast”, Ericsson said. The market is predicted to have 1.2 billion LTE subscriptions by 2021.

The total emmission reduction by ICT could be up to 10 gigatonnes of CO2e, representing about 15 per cent global GHG emmissions in 2030, according to the Ericsson report.