Ericsson Mobility Report November 2020 from 5G Networks

Once again we review the highlights of the Ericsson Mobility Report , one of the main 5G and network documents that we can find. On this occasion once again the evolution of 5G networks and their adoption is the protagonist of this report. A 5G that will undoubtedly expand the possibilities in other fields.

A report in which we can see the evolution that the adoption of 5G is having around the planet. An adoption that is being much faster than the one we are experiencing with 4G, despite the hostile environment in economic and commercial terms that the COVID pandemic is leaving us in this 2020.

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Something that can be understood in the words of Iván Rejón, Head of Strategy, Public Affairs, Marketing & Comms at Ericsson , that “20% of users would pay more for 5G “. Something that shows us the value that this new communication technology brings to potential users, who see in it an opportunity to improve their mobile experience. Ericsson has highlighted the good performance of 5G providers in the launch of their first plans based on this technology, especially considering that they have occurred in the middle of a pandemic, with prominent players such as MásMóvil, Orange, Telefónica or Vodafone.

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Gaming, the great opportunity for 5G

Undoubtedly the improvements that 5G offers us are going to be noticed in all areas of society and in our day to day life. But there are segments where the impact of 5G will be much greater and will have a greater role. We are talking about gaming , a sector that increasingly has more weight in mobile devices, but that with 5G will give its biggest leap in quality. The speed of 5G networks will allow to almost completely eliminate latency in multiplayer games.

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Currently, as Ericsson reveals in its report, up to 58% of gamers of shooters on mobile devices suffer from lag problems . The practical elimination of this lake with 5G will allow to expand the possibilities and the number of active players around the world. In fact, cloud services related to gaming and with 5G availability have grown exponentially in 2020. We have up to six gaming services in the cloud compatible with 5G, with a monthly expense of between 6 and 18 dollars.

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5G grows faster than 4G

In its report, Ericsson has revealed its prediction of 5G contracts for the year 2026 . By then there will be a total of 3.5 billion subscriptions based on 5G technology , placing by then as the second connectivity with the most contracts in the market, after 4G. Both 3G and 2G will have a residual presence in total global subscriptions in 2026.

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Another of the graphs shows us the projected evolution of the adoption of 5G compared to how 4G was at the time. And the difference is clear in favor of 5G. Since in the same period of time this connectivity will grow faster. Compared to the 3.5 billion subscriptions expected by 2026, 4G had reached about 2.8 billion , which is an important indicator that even the pandemic has managed to slow down this growth. Up to 40% of mobile subscriptions are expected to be 5G connections by 2026.

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North America and Europe lead growth, China bills more

In the regional graph of the different network technologies, we have been able to verify, as expected on the other hand, that both North America and Europe will be the engines of the growth of 5G worldwide. In fact, in 2026 this connection will represent 80% in North America and 68% in Europe, followed closely by Northeast Asia. At the other extreme we find the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa with a presence that will not exceed 5% of contracts.

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Regarding VoLTE , its growth is expected to be more pronounced, especially in the Asia Pacific region, where it is expected to reach 3.1 billion subscribers in 2026. It will be followed by the Middle East and Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America, which it will be the place where there are fewer such connections. Between all of them there will be a total of 6.9 billion subscriptions with this connectivity.

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A positive aspect that is being noticed with the adoption of 5G is that there are markets such as China that are increasing monthly billing due to the greater number of subscriptions with 5G connectivity that are being signed. In fact, it has been possible to certify a growth of up to 18% in a sector that has been evolving negatively in recent years in all markets, with the arrival of unlimited data and minutes plans. This at least dampens the impact of that trend. By the end of 2020, it is expected that there will be a total of 220 million active 5G subscriptions, as well as more than 100 providers of these 5G services worldwide.

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In 2026, 5G will host more than half of data consumption

Global data consumption has peaked in this third quarter of 2020, approaching 100 Exabytes per month . In the graph we can see the fluctuations of this growth when compared year-on-year, with a great growth in Q3 of 2019, which has been reduced to a historical minimum during Q4 of 2020, precisely that first quarter where the pandemic has had a greater impact.

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Regarding the weight of 5G in global data consumption, the Ericsson Mobility Report advances 54% of subscriptions based on 5G by 2026 , the remaining 46% will be shared by the other 2G, 3G and 5G networks. Therefore, it will be practically in that year when 5G can boast of being the most used connectivity on the planet, and the most consumed according to data.

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Another graph shows us the monthly data consumption of each smartphone from now to 2026. This one also follows the patterns of others we have seen, where once again North America, Europe and Northeast Asia are the places where the most gigs will be consumed per month on average for each smartphone. To get an idea, in North America the average annual consumption of 11.8 gigs in 2020 will rise to 49 gigs in 2026, with similar growth in Europe and Northeast Asia.

5G exceeds the speed of Wi-Fi in several countries

One of the conclusions that this report has left us has been the spectacular increase in the speed of 5G connections compared to Wi-Fi in different countries. Thus, in data collected between January and April 2020, it has been possible to verify how in countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom or South Korea, the average download speed of 5G has far exceeded the average of Wi-Fi .

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In Spain it has been 146Mbps for 5G compared to 47 Mbps for Wifi . The evolution of the speed of 5G networks is being even faster than that of 4G in its day. There is even the situation in some regions that the use of Wi-Fi is decreasing due to access to 5G. Something that has occurred even at times of the pandemic where more people were confined at home.

3G will continue to be the technology with the most coverage

Despite the great growth of 5G, by 2026 3G will continue to be the mobile network to which the inhabitants of the planet will have the most access, with the same 95% of the world population that it now reaches .

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4G in 2026 will have grown to the same availability percentage. While 5G will still have a good growth margin , since it will have 60% coverage worldwide, a great growth if we consider that today it does not reach more than 15%.