A few days ago, Ericsson released a new version of the Mobile Market Report, in which Ericsson predicted and analyzed the size of the 5G market for the mobile communication industry. The report shows that despite the global economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainty, operators continue to deploy 5G, of which 228 have launched commercial 5G services globally. The most common 5G services launched by operators for consumers are Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), games and some AR/VR-based services. By the end of 2028, it is estimated that the number of 5G signing worldwide will reach 5 billion, accounting for 55% of the total number of mobile signing. Compared with 4G launched in 2009, 5G’s signing growth rate is faster than 4G’s. It is expected that 5G will reach 1 billion signings two years earlier than 4G.

5G drives the growth of all mobile data, and mobile network traffic has doubled in two years. From the second quarter to the third quarter of 2022, mobile network data traffic increased by about 7% month-on-month, and the global mobile network data traffic was about 108EB per month. In absolute terms, this means that mobile network traffic has almost doubled in just two years, and only 55EB per month in the third quarter of 2020. By 2028, all growth of mobile data traffic will come from 5G, while 4G traffic will decline. The traffic growth may fluctuate greatly in different years, and the traffic growth of different countries will also vary greatly according to the dynamics of the local market.

As a wireless alternative to wired broadband connections for homes and businesses, FWA is one of the main early use cases of 5G, especially in areas where broadband services are not available or lacking. It is reported that more than three quarters of the operators surveyed in more than 100 countries and regions are providing FWA services. Compared with the proportion of one fifth a year ago, nearly one third of operators are now providing 5G-based FWA services. Ericsson’s latest research on retail packages provided by operators shows that 238 (77%) of the 310 operators studied worldwide provide FWA services. In the past 12 months, the number of operators providing 5G FWA services has increased from 57 (19%) to 88 (29%). Nearly 40% of the new 5G FWA services launched in the past 12 months are in emerging markets.