Ericsson Sees 5G Subs Reaching 40% of World’s Population by End of 2024

Ericsson estimates 5G will reach 1.5 billion subscribers globally by the end of 2024, or more than 40 percent of the world’s population. If Tuesday's forecast comes true, it would make 5G “the fastest generation of cellular technology to be rolled out on a global scale,” said the company. Increased network capacity, lower cost per gigabyte and new use case requirements will be “key drivers” of 5G deployments, it said. North America will lead the world with 55 percent penetration of 5G subscriptions by the end of 2024, followed by northeast Asia (43 percent) and Western Europe (30 percent). ABI Research forecasts the U.S. will beat China in the race to 5G deployments, but China ultimately will have the world's largest such ecosystem (see 1811270001)