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Although 5G has yet to be rolled out in a lot of countries, several companies are already looking to the future. That future turns out to be quite appealing for the new mobile internet standard. Ericsson expect the technology to handle no less than 45 percent of the world’s mobile data traffic by 2025.

Ericsson look to the future in their new Mobility Report and makes a number of predictions for developments in the 5G market. The company therefore expects 5G to grow significantly over the next six years.

For example, Ericsson believes that there will be 2.6 billion 5G subscriptions worldwide in the next six years. Moreover, by the end of 2025, the average monthly data traffic per smartphone should have increased to 24 GB, compared to today’s 7.2 GB.

According to Ericsson, the increase in data traffic is also partly driven by new consumer behaviour, made possible by 5G. Think, for example, of streaming services for virtual reality and the like.

Large share in Western Europe

Western Europe is expected to receive a significant 5G share in mobile broadband subscriptions. This should reach 55 percent, putting Western Europe in third place worldwide. This share is based on a total volume of 540 million mobile broadband subscriptions in the region.

The only regions where the 5G share will be bigger are Northeast Asia with 56 percent and North America with 74 percent. North America is also taking the lead when it comes to mobile data traffic by smartphones. This is expected to reach 45 GB per month in 2025.

Ericsson expects Western Europe to take second place in this area, with an average of 36 GB per month.