The June 2019 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report forecasts that there will be 1.9 billion 5G subscriptions in 2024 against 10 million in 2019.
5G coverage is forecast to reach 45 percent of the population in 2024. This could surge to 65 percent, as spectrum sharing technology enables 5G deployments on LTE frequency bands, said Ericsson.
The forecast of 1.9 billion 5G subscriptions will account for over 20 percent of all mobile subscriptions in 2024.
The number of LTE subscriptions will reach around 5.3 billion in 2022 and 5 billion at the end of 2024.
In India, GSM/EDGE-only remained the dominant technology during 2018, accounting for 47 percent of mobile subscriptions. LTE subscriptions accounted for 38 percent of mobile subscriptions in India. Mobile broadband1 technologies now make up more than 50 percent of subscriptions.
LTE is forecast to represent 82 percent of mobile subscriptions in 2024. 5G subscriptions are expected to become available in 2022 and will represent 6 percent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2024.
LTE powered 20 percent of mobile subscriptions in the Middle East and North Africa, while in Sub-Saharan Africa, LTE accounted for around 7 percent of subscriptions.
The Middle East and North Africa will have around 60 million 5G subscriptions by the end of 2024, representing 3 percent of total mobile subscriptions.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico are anticipated to be the first countries in the in Latin America to deploy 5G, with increased subscription uptake forecast from 2020. 5G is set to make up 7 percent of mobile subscriptions in Latin America in 2024.
North America has a LTE penetration of 87 percent in 2018. There will be 270 million 5G subscriptions in the North America region, accounting for more than 60 percent of mobile subscriptions.
The number of mobile subscriptions grew at 2 percent to reach around 7.9 billion. China had the most net additions during the quarter (+30 million), followed by Nigeria (+5 million) and the Philippines (+4 million). India’s mobile subscriptions declined by 14 million.
