5G Subs to See Rapid Growth, With North America Leading the Way, Ericsson Says

The world will see 550 million 5G subscriptions in 2022, Ericsson reported Tuesday. North America “will lead the way” with a quarter of mobile subscriptions for 5G service, Ericsson said. Asia Pacific “will be the second fastest growing region for 5G subscriptions, with 10 percent of all subscriptions being 5G in 2022,” the report said. The company forecasts that 19 billion connected devices will be in use that year, with 18 billion of those tied to the IoT. "Almost 90 percent of smartphone subscriptions are on 3G and 4G networks today and standardized 5G networks are expected to be available in 2020,” said Ulf Ewaldsson, chief strategy and technology officer. “We are already seeing a great interest among operators in launching pre-standard 5G networks. " He said 5G will accelerate the digital transformation in many industries, enabling new use cases in areas such as IoT, automation, transport and big data. Ericsson also announced it partnered with SK Telecom and BMW on an advanced 5G outdoor mobility trial, including the first multi-vehicular 5G trials. Tests were conducted at a test track in South Korea, Ericsson said in a news release. They showed that 5G supports vehicle-to-vehicle connections that require "low latency and consistent high bi-directional throughput,” Ericsson said. “Today's demonstration of 5G-based connected car technologies marks the very first step towards achieving fully autonomous driving in the upcoming era of 5G,” said SK Telecom Chief Technology Officer Alex Jinsung Choi.