Ericsson Mobility Report Nov2021

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mobility-report
Ericsson
Mobility Report
November 2021
2 Introduction Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Letter from the publisher
Exciting times
Over the last 10 years, mobile technology The pandemic has shown us how fast 5G will account for nearly half of
has had an incredible impact on society things can change, and how critical a all mobile subscriptions by 2027.
49
and business, above and beyond what digital infrastructure is to society.
anyone could have imagined. With this 5G is entering a new phase, where not
edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, only will consumers benefit from new
we take a look back at some of the applications, but also businesses and
%
key trends and events that have shaped industries will take advantage of new
the last decade as we celebrate the capabilities. No doubt, the pace of
10-year anniversary of this report. change will continue to be high, and
Rather than only looking back, it is more 5G will play a key role in our lives.
interesting to reflect on the learnings of the The Ericsson Mobility Report aims to
past 10 years and apply them to the future. continue its mission to be a beacon for the
If the last decade saw a lot of change, it’s mobile industry, shining at least some light
probably nothing compared to what onto what that future might look like.
we expect to happen in the next. When we
lift our gaze to 2027 and consider the We hope you find the report
5G subscription forecast, which estimates engaging and useful!
that around half of all mobile subscriptions
will be for 5G at that time, it is clear that Fredrik Jejdling
underneath the numbers lies a continuous Executive Vice President and
change in how we act, live and work. Head of Business Area Networks
Contents
Forecasts Articles Key contributors
04 T en years of the 24 Building 5G infrastructure Executive Editor: Patrik Cerwall

Ericsson Mobility Report for the digital future Project Manager: Anette Lundvall
08 5 G mobile subscriptions 28 Network build-out Editors: Peter Jonsson,
forecast to overtake 4G to boost digitalization Stephen Carson
10 5 G subscriptions to be 32 Time-to-content: Benchmarking Forecasts: Richard Möller
mainstream in every region network performance Co-authors: Rachit Saksena (Telia),
12 The state of 5G in 34 Building sustainable networks Dave Lu (Far EasTone),
Latin America: A closer look Ilyas Celik (stc)
14 5G FWA speed-tier 36 M
ethodology
offerings are emerging 37 G lossary Articles:
16 5 G drives innovation 38 Global and regional key figures Peter Jonsson, Stephen Carson,
in service packaging Steven Davies, Per Lindberg,
17 F ast, foldable and everywhere: Greger Blennerud, Karena Fu, Bilal Bezri,
5G devices today Jawad Manssour, Shi Theng Khoo,
18 B roadband IoT still rising as Fredrik Burstedt, Jennifer Walker,
2G and 3G continue to decline Ove Persson, Jens Malmodin, Olivia Thell,
19 M obile network traffic Alejandro Ferrer, Anders Carlsson P,
still climbing steadily Kevin Hume, Luciana Leite,
20 S martphones and video Adriana Margarita Mahecha Segura
drive up mobile data traffic
22 5 G network coverage
momentum continues
Ten years of change
4.7
4G has rocketed from
9 million to a projected

bn 4.7 billion subscriptions
by the end of 2021.
5.5
There are more than
5.5 billion new

bn smartphone subscriptions.
300
Mobile networks carry
almost 300 times more

mobile data traffic
than in 2011.
Ten years of the

Ericsson Mobility Report
In November 2011, Ericsson published the first edition

of the “Traffic and Market Data Report”. One year later,
the report was renamed “Ericsson Mobility Report”,
and the rest, as they say, is history…
The foreword of the first report The early years of 4G – An established ecosystem
began with the following: getting the drivers right means new opportunities
In November 2011, the majority of data If EMR’s early years marked a phase when
traffic across most mobile networks 4G networks, smartphones and the app
“Total smartphone traffic will triple was generated by laptops with cellular ecosystem became mass-market, the
in 2011. By 2016, users living on less connections, with a small number of users later years can be described as a phase
than 1 percent of the Earth’s total generating a large proportion of the data when the established ecosystem led to a
land area are set to generate around traffic. Smartphones were growing in string of disruptive events as new business
60 percent of mobile traffic. We are popularity and there were around models, new entrants in the market and
living in exciting times.” 720 million smartphone subscriptions increased competition took center stage.
globally. The end of 2009, only two years The performance of networks during this
earlier, was the first time the volume of time continuously improved, driven by new
This paragraph captured, more than we monthly data traffic exceeded voice traffic, technology that, together with increased
realized when we wrote it, some of the and also the year 4G was launched. video content, further fueled mobile
fundamental events that shaped the The visible market drivers at the time data traffic consumption and subscriber
last decade; mobile technology evolved led us to underestimate the pace of migration from 3G. This eventually led to
and proliferated rapidly as smartphones smartphone and 4G subscription growth the industry gaining the ability to address
became everyone’s go-to-device, its usage – and thereby also traffic growth on new market segments with high-speed
impacting our daily lives and changing handheld devices – while overestimating internet access using 4G.
behaviors across the world. It’s been a the potential growth of 4G-connected Comparing our November 2015 forecast
privilege to follow this exciting industry so laptops and tablets, as the smartphone to the up-to-date estimated figures for
closely over the years through the lens of became the device of choice for 2021, it is clear we correctly predicted the
this report. connecting other devices over Wi-Fi to single most important parameter for this
The history of the Ericsson Mobility the mobile network. industry’s growth – smartphone subscription
Report (or EMR, as we usually refer to it) One key lesson from the early reports outlook. However, as 4G rollout was faster
tells us a lot about the mobile industry – is that once a mobile standard becomes than anticipated, traffic growth was also
not only why things happened (or didn’t) global and reaches significant population steeper. The acceleration of the 5G
but also about big trends and disruptive coverage, and the ecosystem around standardization timeline agreed during
events that impacted the industry. We it is established, the uptake towards 2017 naturally resulted in a faster uptake
have written over 90 articles that – mass market can be faster than even the of 5G than could possibly have been
sometimes even better than the forecast most optimistic hockey-stick forecasts predicted in 2015. The overestimation of
data – described the big trends, discussing indicate. For 4G, this mass-market growth mobile subscriptions comes down to the
everything from video streaming and happened around 2014–2015 when the uncertainty around the number of passive
mobile tethering driving usage, to the value global population coverage had reached subscriptions and the interest in dual-SIMs,
created by AI and private networks. around 40 percent. but that had less impact on actual users or
traffic in the networks.
Figure 1: Comparison of forecasts vs. up-to-date data
Forecasted for 2016 Forecasted for 2021

Estimates for 2021
(Predictions made in Actual 2016 (Predictions made in
(End of year figures)
November 2011) November 2015)
Mobile subscriptions
8.4 bn 7.4 bn 9.1 bn 8.1 bn
Mobile PC/tablet subscriptions

550m 180m 350m 300m
Smartphone subscriptions
2.6 bn 3.7 bn 6.4 bn 6.3 bn
4G subscriptions
510m 2.0 bn 4.1 bn 4.7bn
5G subscriptions – –
150m 660m
Average traffic per smartphone

800MB/m 1.9GB/m 8.5 GB/m 11.4 GB/m
Total mobile traffic

4.6 EB/m 6.7EB/m 51EB/m 65EB/m
Disruptive events shaping the growth Looking ahead – future Mobile networks carry almost
Year-over-year (YoY) global mobile traffic demand is built today 300 times more mobile data traffic
growth reveals a few disruptive events Today, mobile networks carry almost 300 than in 2011.
300
in some big markets that impacted the times more traffic than in 2011, excluding
overall traffic on a global scale. Figure 2 fixed wireless access (FWA), network
shows a few bumps in the YoY traffic curve, speeds have increased hundreds of times
highlighting that mobile traffic growth is and there are now almost 20,000 different
not just demand-driven, but also sensitive 4G device models on the market.1 This would
to network capabilities, operator tariffs, not have been possible without the industry’s
traffic shaping and market legislation. ability to scale and the never-ending
In 2015, a US Tier 1 service provider improvements to network efficiency.
started offering data bundles with a The big question is how past learnings
zero-rated unlimited offering for a few can be applied to the future. Forecasting
Around 2 billion more people
of the most attractive video services on will continue to be difficult. On the surface,
now have a mobile phone.
2.0
the market. Similar offerings were soon it seems quite straightforward to expect
launched by competitors, leading to a continued growth of 5G subscriptions, and
steep increase in traffic volumes over thereby traffic-per-device growth. However,
mobile networks that could be seen as 5G population coverage increases,
on a global scale. we could expect some new disruptive
In 2017, the next unexpected traffic
growth event occurred as a result of a
new entrant to the Indian market that
events, maybe in the mid-2020s, that take
advantage of 5G capabilities in totally
new ways, be it with new devices, business
bn
offered very competitive 4G prices, models or applications. With the emergence
attracting a huge amount of new of mirror worlds, hyperconnectivity and AI,
smartphone users with very high traffic it is also possible that the digitalization of
usage per smartphone. Today, the Indian industries and businesses will accelerate
subcontinent is one of the regions with the more than we can imagine today.
highest GB usage per smartphone. On top of this, there are a number of
4G arrived in China later than in many global societal and geopolitical forces
other markets. In 2018, the Chinese market that will inevitably shape the future. The
showed incredible traffic growth as a climate crisis and global fragmentation,
result of attractive new offerings and fierce together with a post-pandemic society
competition, which had a huge impact on with increased virtual connections, will also
the global numbers. Remember, in 2018, change the way we act, live and work.
global traffic was already 3–4 times higher But regardless of how these possible
than it had been just 3 years earlier, forces of change will impact the mobile
and still led to YoY growth figures in the industry, it is clear that we are still living in
90 percent range. exciting times!
Figure 2: YoY global mobile traffic growth
YoY global mobile traffic growth Expected global mobile traffic growth
160%
New 4G Fierce
Unlimited
140% entrant in India competition with
video offerings
offering very very competitive
in North
competitive data bundles
America
prices in China
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
1
GSA (October 2021).
7 Forecasts Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Forecasts
660
The numbers are in – 5G is well and
truly here. Uptake is expected to be
By the end of this year,
faster than for any previous generation we estimate there will

m be more than 660 million
of mobile technology.
5G subscriptions.
23
5G handsets account
for 23 percent of

% global volumes.
800
FWA will offer broadband
to over 800 million people

m by 2027, through around
230 million connections.
51
Massive IoT will make up
51 percent of cellular IoT

% connections by 2027.
5G mobile subscriptions
forecast to overtake 4G
By the end of 2027, 5G subscriptions

are expected to reach 4.4 billion.
Service providers continue to switch on 5G subscription uptake is expected to be then decline to around 3.3 billion
5G and more than 180 have launched faster than that of 4G following its launch by the end of 2027 as subscribers
commercial 5G services globally.1 in 2009, reaching 1 billion subscriptions migrate to 5G.
5G subscriptions2 grew by 98 million over 2 years sooner than 4G did. Key 3G subscriptions declined by 45 million,
during the third quarter, to around 570 million. factors include the timely availability of while GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions
By the end of the year we estimate more devices from several vendors, with prices dropped by 43 million during the quarter
than 660 million 5G subscriptions. This is an falling faster than for 4G, as well as China’s and other technologies3 decreased by
increase from our previous estimate and is early engagement. By the end of 2027, about 5 million.
mainly due to stronger than expected we forecast 4.4 billion 5G subscriptions During the quarter, China had the
demand in China and North America, globally, accounting for 49 percent of all most net additions (+23 million),
impacted partly by decreasing prices of mobile subscriptions. 5G will become the followed by Indonesia (+7 million)
5G devices. Currently, North East Asia has dominant mobile access technology by and Ghana (+5 million).
the highest 5G subscription penetration, subscriptions in 2027.
followed by North America, the 4G subscriptions increased by
Gulf Cooperation Council countries and approximately 48 million during the
Western Europe. In 2027, it is projected quarter and now total more than
that North America will have the highest 4.6 billion in Q3. 4G subscriptions are
5G penetration at 90 percent. projected to peak at 4.7 billion in Q4 2021,
Figure 3: Mobile subscriptions by technology (billion)

10 5G subscriptions are forecast
8.9
to reach 4.4 billion in 2027.
4.4
billion
9
8.1
billion
8
bn
7
4 5G
LTE (4G)
3 WCDMA/HSPA (3G)
GSM/EDGE-only (2G)
2
TD-SCDMA (3G)
1 CDMA-only (2G/3G)
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
1
GSA (October 2021).
2
A 5G subscription is counted as such when associated with a device that supports New Radio (NR),
as specified in 3GPP Release 15, and is connected to a 5G-enabled network.
3
Mainly CDMA2000 EVDO, TD-SCDMA and Mobile WiMAX.
Figure 4: Comparison of 5G and 4G subscriptions uptake in the first years of deployment (billion)
4.5
5G subscription uptake is expected

4.0 to be faster than for 4G.
3.5
5G (2018–2027)
4G (2009–2018)
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Years since first deployment
Mobile broadband dominates Subscriptions associated with smartphones Subscriptions for fixed broadband are
mobile subscriptions continue to rise. At the end of 2021 we expected to grow around 4 percent
Today, there are around 8.1 billion mobile estimate that there will be 6.3 billion, annually through 2027.4 FWA connections
subscriptions. We project this figure will accounting for about 77 percent of all are anticipated to show strong growth
increase to around 8.9 billion by the end of mobile phone subscriptions. This is forecast of 17 percent annually through 2027.
2027, of which 92 percent will be for mobile to reach 7.7 billion in 2027, accounting Subscriptions for mobile PCs and tablets
broadband. The number of unique mobile for around 86 percent of all mobile are expected to show moderate growth,
subscribers is projected to grow from subscriptions at that time. reaching around 540 million in 2027.
6 billion in Q3 2021 to 6.7 billion by
the end of the forecast period.
Figure 5: Subscriptions and subscribers (billion)
9 Mobile subscriptions
Mobile broadband subscriptions
8
Smartphone subscriptions
Mobile subscribers
7
Fixed broadband subscriptions
Mobile PC and tablet subscriptions
6
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
4
The number of fixed broadband users is at least three times the number of fixed broadband
connections due to shared subscriptions in households, enterprises and public access spots.
It is the opposite for mobile phones, where subscription numbers exceed user numbers.
5G subscriptions to be
mainstream in every region
Mobile broadband subscriptions currently make

up 84 percent of all mobile subscriptions.
Figure 6: Mobile subscriptions by region and technology (percent)

5G LTE (4G) WCDMA/HSPA (3G) GSM/EDGE-only (2G) TD-SCDMA (3G) CDMA-only (2G/3G)
2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027 2021 2027
19% 10% 37% 25% 68% 39% 61% 41% 66% 44% 48% 45% 24% 72% 9% 80% 6% 83% 20% 90%
80%
28% 80%
43% 74%
45% 70%
55% 59%
39% 46%
37%
36% 32%
24%
27% 26%
15%
16%
9%
Sub-Saharan Middle East India Central and Latin South East North East Gulf Western North
Africa and North Eastern America Asia and Asia Cooperation Europe America
Africa1 Europe Oceania Council
Sub-Saharan Africa Middle East and North Africa estimated to be for mobile broadband
In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile penetration In the Middle East and North Africa region, at the end of 2021, and this is projected
is less than the global average and mobile around 37 percent of mobile subscriptions to reach 96 percent in 2027. 4G is the
subscriptions will continue to grow by an are estimated to be for 4G at the end of dominant technology, accounting for about
additional 25 percent over the forecast 2021. The region is anticipated to evolve 80 percent of the subscriptions at the
period. 4G is estimated to account for close over the forecast period. By 2027, end of 2021. However, with 5G adoption
to 20 percent of subscriptions at the end 81 percent of subscriptions are expected accelerating in the forecast period, the
of 2021. Over the forecast period, the total to be for mobile broadband with 4G being majority of mobile subscriptions are
number of mobile broadband2 subscriptions the dominant technology, accounting for anticipated to be for 5G at over 65 million
is predicted to increase, reaching 78 percent 45 percent of subscriptions at that time. in 2027, representing 80 percent of total
of mobile subscriptions. While 5G and 4G This will be a decline from a peak of mobile subscriptions.
subscriptions will continue to grow over 50 percent in 2026, as subscribers
the next 6 years, HSPA will remain the migrate to 5G. The region is likely to reach India
dominant technology with a share of close to 210 million 5G subscriptions in In the India region, 4G is expected to remain
40 percent in 2027. Driving factors 2027, representing 25 percent of total the dominant technology in 2027, however
behind the growth of mobile broadband mobile subscriptions. the 4G subscriptions are forecast to drop
subscriptions include a young, growing from 790 million in 2021 to 710 million in
population with increasing digital skills Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 2027, showing an annual average decline
and more affordable smartphones. Over The GCC countries, part of the Middle East of 2 percent. Thus, 4G subscriptions are
the forecast period, discernible volumes of and North Africa region, are among the expected to reduce from 68 percent of
5G subscriptions are expected from 2022, most advanced ICT markets in the world mobile subscriptions in 2021 to 55 percent
reaching 10 percent in 2027. – 91 percent of mobile subscriptions are in 2027 as subscribers migrate to 5G.
1
All Middle East and North Africa figures include GCC countries.
2
Mobile broadband includes radio access technologies HSPA (3G),
LTE (4G), 5G, CDMA2000 EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and Mobile WiMAX.
5G will represent around 39 percent of South East Asia and Oceania Western Europe
mobile subscriptions in India at the end Mobile subscriptions in the region have In Western Europe, 4G is the dominant
of 2027, estimated at about 500 million exceeded 1.1 billion, with Indonesia being access technology, accounting for
subscriptions. The number of smartphone second globally when it comes to net 80 percent of all subscriptions at the end
subscriptions is expected to be 810 million additions during Q3 2021. 5G subscriptions of 2021. 4G is predicted to decline to
at the end of 2021 and is projected to grow are expected to reach close to 15 million 16 percent and WCDMA/HSPA to virtually
at a CAGR of 7 percent, reaching over at the end of 2021 and grow strongly over zero percent of subscriptions in 2027
1.2 billion by 2027. Smartphone the next few years, with a forecast total of as subscribers migrate to 5G. Around
subscriptions accounted for 70 percent of about 560 million in 2027. 60 service providers have launched 5G
total mobile subscriptions in 2021 and are Important technology milestones services across the region. 5G subscription
projected to constitute around 94 percent continue to be achieved in the region. penetration is projected to reach 83 percent
in 2027, driven by rapid smartphone In Australia, operators testing with by the end of 2027.
adoption in the country. millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies
have achieved 5G broadband speeds North America
Central and Eastern Europe beyond 5Gbps. Commercially, mmWave 5G In North America, 5G commercialization is
In Central and Eastern Europe, 4G is has started to be rolled out in certain areas moving at a rapid pace. Service providers
the dominant technology, accounting for around Australia in different frequency have launched commercial 5G services,
61 percent of all subscriptions at the end of bands. In Singapore, one of the first 5G focusing on mobile broadband and fixed
2021. In 2027, 4G will remain the dominant standalone (SA) networks in the world has wireless access (FWA). The addition of
technology and is expected to account for been launched, opening up possibilities C-band spectrum will secure consistent
59 percent of mobile subscriptions, while for the development of new 5G use cases. 5G user experiences. FWA will play a key
5G subscriptions are forecast to make up In Malaysia, a rather different approach role in closing the digital divide where
41 percent. During the forecast period, there to 5G deployment is being pursued. the pandemic has exposed large gaps
will continue to be a significant decline in Unlike existing 4G networks, Malaysia for education, remote working and small
WCDMA/HSPA, from 32 percent to virtually is assigning the 5G spectrum to a single businesses. By 2027, more than 410 million
zero, as users migrate to 4G and 5G. government-owned special purpose 5G subscriptions are anticipated in the
To date, around 25 5G networks vehicle to build and manage a national region, accounting for 90 percent of
have been commercially launched 5G network. Service providers will then be mobile subscriptions.
across the region. able to tap into the network via wholesale
agreements to offer 5G services. It is
Latin America expected that commercial 5G services will 5G will account for 90 percent
In Latin America, 4G is currently the arrive by the end of 2021 in several cities. of North American mobile
dominant radio access technology, subscriptions in 2027.
90
accounting for 66 percent of subscriptions North East Asia
at the end of 2021 and a predicted In North East Asia, service providers
39 percent in 2027. A steady decline in continue to invest in 5G deployments to
WCDMA/HSPA is forecast as users migrate further fuel 5G subscription growth.
%
to 4G and 5G, falling from 24 to 11 percent. A current focus area for service providers
The region is already advancing towards is to improve nationwide coverage.
5G with commercial launches in the initial Meanwhile, the rapid growth of 5G
stages in 10 countries, including Colombia, subscriptions, supported by an increased
Brazil, Peru and Puerto Rico. By the end of number of available 5G-device models, has
2027, 5G is set to account for 44 percent of had a positive impact on service providers’
mobile subscriptions, making it the dominant financial performance. Major service
radio access technology at that time. providers in leading 5G markets, such as
China and South Korea, have reported a
positive impact of 5G subscribers on mobile
service revenues and ARPU in 2021.
At the close of the forecast period, the
region is anticipated to have more than
1.6 billion 5G subscriptions, equaling a
5G subscription penetration of 72 percent.
The state of 5G in
Latin America: A closer look
Interest in 5G is growing in Latin America, and its deployment

and adoption presents a real opportunity to promote economic
recovery and social inclusion throughout the region.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile Rolling out 5G Countries such as Chile, Colombia and
broadband played a critical role in There have been commercial 5G launches Mexico had a boost in the digitalization of
connectivity, often as an alternative to the in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, companies and their employees, but there
limited availability of fixed broadband. There Peru and Puerto Rico. New 5G roll-outs is still a wide gap between rural and urban
is a general interest in the adoption of 5G are expected in 2022 after the success areas in most of the countries that make
technology due to its relevance in promoting of recent auctions in Brazil, Chile and the up the region.
innovation, competitiveness and productivity Dominican Republic. Many service A study published by the Inter-American
in a digital transformation scenario. providers – in at least 15 countries – Development Bank (IDB) describes how
A stable, ultra-fast and affordable continue to test 5G technology in Latin America and the Caribbean could
mobile broadband service should be an preparation for upcoming auctions. dramatically increase employment while
overall priority in the region to help close the boosting sustainable economic growth
digital divide. Fixed wireless access (FWA), Outlook if they succeed in promoting digital
as a use case, can also be better leveraged By the end of 2027, 5G is expected connectivity.3 According to the study,
for both business and social purposes. to represent 44 percent of mobile closing the gap with Organization for
subscriptions in Latin America and the Economic Co-operation and Development
Economics: 5G helping average traffic per smartphone is forecast (OECD) countries could generate more
to kickstart recovery to be approximately 35GB per month. than 15 million jobs, boost regional GDP by
Latin America is expected to achieve GDP The deployment of 5G networks 7.7 percent and increase productivity
growth of 5.2 percent in 2021, showing a represents a significant opportunity for by 6.3 percent.
partial recovery from the contraction of development in the region. Last year, it Despite multiple efforts to connect
6.8 percent in 2020 that was largely due was projected that the digitalization the region, there is still a lag that must be
to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, of industries in Latin America could addressed. It is essential for governments,
challenges to a full recovery remain, with develop into a market worth more than organizations and companies to
persistent and widespread social and USD 21 billion annually, and in the long collaborate to achieve the objectives of
economic problems across the region. term this critical infrastructure could economic growth with social inclusion.
By 2022, the Economic Commission for increase regional competitiveness and
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) translate into a GDP increase of more 5G and private networks
projects that countries in the region will than 5 percent. to enable Industry 4.0
grow by an average of 2.9 percent, which The characteristics of 5G are ideal for
implies a slowdown compared to the Bridging the digital new use cases in business and industry.
2021 rebound.1 divide in Latin America Its deployment becomes a catalyst for
FWA has been identified as a potential digital transformation and Industry 4.0.
Spectrum solution to help connect the unconnected. Latin America is an industrial hub of global
Latin American countries have scheduled Many countries in the region have been relevance. Mining, manufacturing, seaports,
several spectrum allocation processes testing technology and formulating plans, airports, warehouses and energy plants are
for the end of 2021 and the first half of and now the roll-out is underway. FWA examples of sectors developing innovative
2022. There is still an opportunity is ideal for places that are difficult to solutions to take advantage of the emerging
for spectrum harmonization on the access with traditional fixed broadband. opportunities for private networks.
mid-bands (3.3–3.7GHz) across An estimated 244 million people in A mining company in Mexico will deploy
Latin America, as well as opportunities Latin America – one-third of the population a private network covering 3 underground
for sharing low-band spectrum with – do not have access to the internet.2 copper mines with operations down to a
previous technologies. The pandemic has had a huge impact on depth of nearly 1km.
efforts to digitalize the region.
1
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, www.cepal.org/es.
2
Ibid.
3
IDB: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Informe anual del Indice de Desarrollo de la Banda Ancha (2020).
By the end of 2027, 5G is expected

to represent 44 percent of mobile
subscriptions in Latin America.
44 %
It will be the first 5G-ready cellular network Figure 7: Latin America mobile subscriptions by technology (million)
deployed in an underground mining
production environment in Latin America 5G LTE (4G) WCDMA/HSPA (3G) GSM/EDGE-only (2G)
and emphasizes the possibilities for private 800
networks in the industry and the region.
The mines will use the private network with 700
20MHz bandwidth in the 700MHz band to
monitor in real-time the mining machines, 600
sensors and energy system in 10s of kms
500
of mining tunnels. The private network will
also allow the mines to remotely control
400
ventilation and locate workers in real-time
through smart helmets, including sending 300
emergency messages or mission-critical
push-to-talk and push-to-video 200
communications. All these use cases
translate into significant improvements 100
to employee safety, an increase in
productivity and the reduction of 0
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
operational expenses.
5G consumer potential
The Latin American 5G market is projected Figure 8: Latin America mobile data traffic (EB per month)
to generate over USD 28.4 billion annually
by 2030 in enhanced mobile broadband 5G 2G/3G/4G
revenues. In addition, the 5G FWA market 20

has the potential to connect rural areas and
expand broadband coverage. It is expected
to be worth nearly USD 4 billion in 2030,
15
with 21 million subscriptions. Maintaining
this momentum and accelerating
commercial deployments and adoption
can help drive the region’s recovery 10
from COVID-19.4

0
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Ericsson Consumer and IndustryLab analysis, Harnessing the 5G consumer potential study,
4
Latin America (November 2020).

5G FWA speed-tier
offerings are emerging
Over 75 percent of service providers are now offering fixed

wireless access (FWA) services. The majority are best effort,
but monetization with speed-based offerings are picking up.
Over 75 percent of service High growth of service providers During the last 6 months, the number
providers now offer FWA offering 5G FWA services of service providers offering 5G FWA
In October 2021, Ericsson, for the sixth During the last 6 months, the number of services has grown by almost 25 percent.
25
time, updated its study of retail packages service providers offering 5G FWA services
offered by service providers worldwide. has increased from 46 to 57, representing
~
Out of 312 service providers studied, a growth of almost 25 percent. There is
239 had an FWA offering, representing strong 5G FWA momentum in the
%
an average of 77 percent globally. Service Middle East and Africa, which accounts
providers’ adoption of FWA offerings has for 60 percent of 5G FWA launches in
more than doubled in the last three years. the last 6 months.
Figure 9: Global number of service Figure 10: Regional percentage of

providers offering FWA service providers offering FWA
FWA best effort FWA quality of service (QoS) Apr 21 Oct 21 – FWA best effort Oct 21 – FWA QoS
250
239
Middle 91% 9% 75%
12%
224 East and
Africa 67%
200 88%
200
83% 17% 98%
Western
185 Europe
93%
Central
90% 10% 86%
150 and
141 Eastern
84%
Europe
94% 6% 65%
Asia-
100 Pacific
61%
87% 13% 52%

Latin
America
52%
50
60% 40% 83%

North
America
80%
0
Aug 19 Feb 20 Oct 20 Apr 21 Oct 21 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Figure 11: FWA connections
5G FWA connections 4G and other technology FWA connections
250 Definition of FWA

A connection that provides primary
200 broadband access through wireless
wide-area mobile-network-enabled
Connections (million)
customer premises equipment (CPE).

150
This includes various form factors of
CPEs, such as indoor (desktop and
100
window) and outdoor (rooftop and
wall-mounted). It does not include
50 portable battery-based Wi-Fi
routers or dongles.
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Figure 12: Mobile data and FWA traffic
FWA traffic Mobile data traffic

400
Traffic (EB per month)
300
200
100
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
QoS with speed offerings are picking up growth during the last 6 months was in the FWA to offer broadband
The majority (88 percent) of FWA offerings Middle East and Africa, with the number to over 800 million by 2027
are best effort with a monthly volume tariff of service providers with an FWA offering FWA’s societal impact is larger than the
plan based on usage (GB/month). About increasing from 67 percent to 75 percent. number of FWA connections, as it brings
12 percent of service providers offer a QoS. connectivity to three to five people in
This is defined as selling FWA services with FWA connection set to rise a household, depending on regional
“speed tiers” enabling higher monetization, almost threefold until 2027 demographics. The forecast of almost
like fiber-based broadband services. About Some service providers are starting to 230 million FWA connections by the
40 percent of these QoS offerings are report FWA connections, but globally end of 2027 represents over 800 million
“basic”, with average/typical speeds being there is still limited reporting. Based individuals having access to a wireless
advertised. Some 60 percent are more on a recent FWA CPE shipment survey,1 broadband connection.
advanced QoS offerings, involving and Ericsson’s own research, we estimate
“speed tiers”, such as 100Mbps, 300Mbps that there will be close to 90 million
and 500Mbps. Service providers with FWA connections by the end of 2021. By 2027, FWA will offer
5G FWA are more likely to have a QoS This number is forecast to grow almost broadband to over
offering, with 17 out of 56 utilizing this threefold through to 2027, reaching 800 million people.
800
approach (30 percent). North America is almost 230 million. Out of these, 5G FWA
the region with the highest adoption, with connections are expected to grow to
40 percent of all offerings based on QoS. around 110 million by 2027, representing
almost half of total FWA connections.
m
Half of all service providers
in every region now offer FWA FWA data traffic projected
According to the regional breakdowns, to grow almost six times
more than 50 percent of service providers FWA data traffic represented over
in every region offer FWA. In Western 15 percent of global mobile network
Europe, almost all service providers have data traffic by the end of 2021, and is
an FWA offering (98 percent). This is also projected to grow almost 6 times to reach
the region with the highest percentage of 82EB in 2027. This accounts for more than
5G FWA offerings, representing almost 20 percent of total mobile network data
40 percent of global offerings. The highest traffic globally.
1
GSA (Sept 2021).
5G drives innovation
in service packaging
More than 50 percent of service providers now

offer some form of service-based connectivity.
The amount of data included in packages Today, even more advanced versions on the amount of data that can be shared
continues to rise, but service providers are can also be found. For example, the aptly within family or device plans. More than
also adding to both the variety and named “work and education packs” 80 percent of service providers with these
options available to consumers. Notably, have appeared with discounted packs limitations have already made
there is an increase in the use of what is of gigabytes for the combined use of 5G commercially available.
known as service-based connectivity, which video conferencing, web browsing, video Nearly 46 percent of the service
has emerged as an alternative to unlimited streaming and office software suites. providers surveyed have now launched
packages. They can best be described In 2021 we have observed an increasing 5G for smartphones and, of these, about
as add-on packages that wrap around a number of this type of package targeting 36 percent are charging a premium for 5G
specific service type, or even a selection cloud gaming. over the nearest comparable 4G offering.
of varying services. Previously, the main The number of service providers who A little over one-third of the 5G service
services targeted by these connectivity packs offer unlimited data as premium packages providers are bundling media content
have been social media, music and video continues to increase, standing at around with their subscriptions. Speed tiering is
streaming. Around 52 percent of service 37 percent – up from 35 percent 6 months also being used as an effective means to
providers offer these types of packages. ago. A recent trend among these is the incentivize consumers to move up the price
The pandemic seems to have triggered introduction of boundary conditions, tiers in conjunction with both unlimited
providers to offer these connectivity packs, which include limits when tethering or and bucket plans.
especially for video conferencing services. using IoT devices, as well as restrictions
Figure 13: Number of service providers per type of offering
Aug 2019 Feb 2020 Oct 2020 Apr 2021 Oct 2021
350
305 306 306 308

300
260
250 239
225
200
200 185
160
152
150 141 142 143
131
123 126 125
119 122
112 115
109
103
99 97 96 100 100
95
100 91 93
84 81 83
79 76
66 69
54 54 55
50 44
40
26
0
Buckets Unlimited Service-based Off peak Device based Fixed Family and Triple/quad play 5G
connectivity wireless access share plans
Fast, foldable and everywhere:

5G devices today
5G handset sales have taken off,

outpacing the 4G handset market share
10 quarters into the technology cycle.
5G adoption is accelerating for NR-NR dual connectivity (NR-DC). NR-DC been showcased and the price of foldable
both networks and devices: will be widely supported at the chipset phones has dropped significantly.
• Over 400 5G smartphone models have level by the end of the year and is expected Device manufacturers are investing in this
been launched. to become commercially available in technology and the current outlook is that
• Global smartphone shipments were up devices during 2022. foldable smartphones are here to stay.
by 19 percent in the first half of 2021
compared with the first half of 2020.1 mmWave becomes affordable Time-critical communications
There is a risk that supply challenges will The price of mmWave-capable devices Another service category currently
have a negative impact on shipments in has continued to decline as competition inspiring minds in both the device and
the second half of 2021. in that space increases. Recently, new network communities is time-critical
• 5G device shipments are on par with, or mmWave-capable devices priced at around services, combined with new form factors
exceeding, predictions at the beginning USD 300 have emerged. The chipset domain like VR, XR and AR glasses. Large tech
of 2021. continues to expand, and we expect to see companies are investing significant
• At the tenth quarter of the cycle, 5G increased competition in this price range. resources, and it is seen as the next frontier
handsets account for 23 percent of global for 5G. It will put new requirements on
volumes, compared to 8.7 percent for Foldable devices here to stay chipsets, devices and networks to provide
4G at the corresponding time in its cycle. Initially, folding screens were exclusive bounded latency in order to enhance the
• Devices with New Radio (NR) carrier to high-end devices and significantly user experience. The first steps in this
aggregation capability are becoming more expensive than regular flagship direction are about to be taken, and with
mainstream. smartphones. However, increasingly more 5G traffic in the networks, more
• Significant investment in extended innovative concept designs have since refined functionality will be needed.
reality (XR) use cases is expected to drive
the need for time-critical communication
Figure 14: 5G technology market readiness
services, including network slicing.
Standalone taking new steps Second half 2021 First half 2022 Second half 2022 2023
5G standalone (SA) has taken off slower NSA
than initially anticipated, despite proven
Architecture
device readiness in markets that have SA
already deployed it. Mid-band spectrum NR-DC (including mmWave)
availability remains a key factor for
market traction.
2CC
China and North America were the
first markets in which 5G SA was launched. Carrier
aggregation 3CC FDD 3CC FDD/TDD 4CC
Now, service providers have launched
commercial SA services in markets UL CA
including Korea, Singapore and Thailand,
as well as a few markets in Europe.
VoNR VoNR* VoNR emergency call
We continue to anticipate the first
introduction of commercial 5G-native voice
(VoNR) services towards the end of 2021 mmWave uptake outside the US
mmWave SA (mmWave
or beginning of 2022. only) FWA
5G SA services have been offered using
frequency bands below 6GHz. To maximize Time-critical
Initial time-critical services
the user experience, mmWave bands communication
can be combined with sub-6 bands using
*Commercial service activation also depends on 5G coverage.
1
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Note: The graph illustrates availability of network functionality, as well as support in devices.
Broadband IoT still rising as

2G and 3G continue to decline
During 2021, broadband IoT (4G/5G) will overtake

2G and 3G as the segment that enables the largest
share of IoT applications globally.
Broadband IoT mainly includes wide-area will increase substantially for this segment. a relatively small base now, these Massive
use cases that require high throughput, Meanwhile, the Massive IoT technologies IoT technologies are expected to overtake
low latency and large data volumes. NB-IoT and Cat-M1 – primarily consisting broadband IoT during the forecast period.
By the end of 2027, 40 percent of cellular of wide-area use cases involving large In 2027, these technologies are forecast
IoT connections will be broadband IoT, numbers of low-complexity, low-cost to make up 51 percent of all cellular
with 4G connecting the majority. As 5G devices with long battery life and relatively IoT connections.
New Radio (NR) is being introduced in old low throughput – continue to be rolled out IoT devices connected via 2G and 3G
and new spectrum, throughput data rates around the world. Although emerging from have been in slow decline since 2019.
Telia’s reflections available device modules and increased the 5G era and are natural successors to
Telia Company has seen a 30 percent2 battery life continue to facilitate 2G/3G-based use cases. Telia expects to
year-on-year increase in IoT devices on its rapid adoption. see continued growth in both LPWA and
networks across the Nordics and Baltics Besides smart meters, Telia sees broadband IoT as ecosystems around
during 2021. This is more than double the growth within the smart buildings, these technologies evolve to support the
growth compared to 2020, with transportation and logistics, security and growing need for diverse IoT use cases.
percentages in the low- to mid-teens. surveillance applications, and automotive
Large-scale smart meter deployments sectors. Automotive use cases are more likely
using low-power wide-area (LPWA) to leverage 4G/5G network capabilities.
networks and the adoption of embedded The average monthly data consumption
universal integrated circuit cards (eUICC) within this industry is 1GB for a 4G device,
have contributed to much of that growth.3 compared to 10MB for a 2G/3G smart meter.
Thanks to the availability of both NB-IoT As the market shifts from legacy IoT “Telia’s reflections” was written in
and Cat-M on Telia’s networks, as well to broadband IoT, Telia’s 2G and 3G cooperation with Telia Company’s
as customers’ greater understanding networks in the Nordics and Baltics are global IoT unit, which offers IoT
of LPWA’s capabilities and value, being retired, while 5G networks are solutions for a broad range of
Telia has seen interest in these rolled out to complement and strengthen companies and industries. Telia’s
technologies rise significantly. Growth is the 4G networks with new capabilities. services help millions of people to
further fueled by an expanding ecosystem NB-IoT and Cat-M technologies, both be connected, communicate, do
of LPWA devices and applications, forming part of the 5G standard, are very business and be entertained.
lowering deployment costs while readily well suited to massive IoT applications in
Figure 15: IoT connections (billion) Figure 16: Cellular IoT connections by segment and technology (billion)
IoT 2021 2027 CAGR Broadband IoT and Critical IoT (4G/5G) Massive IoT (NB-IoT/Cat-M) Legacy (2G/3G)
6
Wide-area IoT 2.1 5.9 19%
5
Cellular IoT4 1.9 5.5 19%
4
Short-range IoT 12.5 24.3 12%
3
Total 14.6 30.2 13%
2
1
at-M includes both Cat-M1 and Cat-M2.
C
However, only Cat-M1 is being supported today. 1
2
For the 12 months to August 2021.
3
eUICC offers flexibility as it makes over-the-air 0
provisioning possible. 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
4
These figures are also included in the figures
for wide-area IoT. Note: The graph illustrates availability of network functionality, as well as support in devices.
Mobile network traffic

still climbing steadily
Mobile network data traffic grew 42 percent

between Q3 2020 and Q3 2021.
As in the previous quarters during 2021, Over the long term, traffic1 growth is driven
the year-on-year traffic growth rate by both the rising number of smartphone
remained at the expected level – subscriptions and an increasing average
42 percent – compared to the extraordinary data volume per subscription, fueled
peak in 2018 and the first part of 2019. primarily by more viewing of video content.
The quarter-on-quarter growth was Figure 17 shows the net addition and total
around 8 percent. In absolute numbers this global monthly network data traffic from
equals an addition of 5.6EB per month in Q3 2014 to Q3 2021, along with the
just one quarter, which is the same as the year-on-year percentage change for
total was in Q1 2016. Total monthly mobile mobile network data traffic.
network data traffic in Q3 2021 reached
around 78EB.
Figure 17: Global mobile network data traffic and year-on-year growth (EB per month)
Data Year-on-year growth
80 100
60 75
Total (uplink + downlink) traffic (EB per month)
Year-on-year growth (percent)
40 50
20 25
0 0
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Note: Mobile network data traffic also includes traffic generated by fixed wireless access (FWA) services.
1
Traffic does not include DVB-H, Wi-Fi or Mobile WiMAX. VoIP is included.
Smartphones and video

drive up mobile data traffic
In 2027, 5G networks will carry 62 percent

of the world’s smartphone traffic.
Total global mobile data traffic – excluding forecast period. By 2027, we expect Globally, the average usage per
traffic generated by fixed wireless access 5G networks to carry 62 percent of smartphone has reached 11.4GB.
11.4
(FWA) – is estimated to reach around total mobile data traffic.
65EB per month by the end of 2021, and
is projected to grow by a factor of around Large variations in traffic
4.4 to reach 288EB per month in 2027. growth across regions
Including FWA traffic, this takes the total Traffic growth can be very volatile
mobile network traffic to around 80EB per between years and can vary significantly
month by the end of 2021, and 370EB between countries, depending on local
per month by the end of 2027. market dynamics. Globally, the growth
The monthly global average usage per in mobile data traffic per smartphone
smartphone will reach 11.4GB by the end can be attributed to three main drivers:
of 2021 and is forecast to reach 41GB by improved device capabilities, an increase
the end of 2027. in data-intensive content and more The reliance on mobile networks to
Smartphones continue to be at the data consumption due to continued stay connected and work from home
epicenter of this development as they improvements in the performance of has contributed to the average traffic
generate most of the mobile data traffic deployed networks. per smartphone increasing to 18.4GB
today – about 97 percent – a share that per month in 2021, up from 16.1GB per
is projected to increase throughout the Over 1.2 billion smartphone subscriptions month in 2020. The average traffic per
forecast period. in the India region in 2027 smartphone in the India region is the
Currently, video traffic is estimated to In India, COVID-19 increased reliance second-highest globally and is projected to
account for 69 percent of all mobile data on telecom networks to fulfill personal grow to around 50GB per month in 2027.
traffic, a share that is forecast to increase and business needs – be it remote health Competitive pricing by service providers
to 79 percent in 2027. consultations, online ordering, online for subscription packages, affordable
Populous markets that launch 5G early education, content consumption or video smartphones and increased time spent
are likely to lead traffic growth over the conferencing, amongst others. online all contribute to monthly usage
growth in the region.
Total mobile data traffic in India has
Figure 18: Global mobile network data traffic (EB per month) grown from 9.4EB per month in 2020 to
FWA (3G/4G/5G) Mobile data (5G) Mobile data (2G/3G/4G) 12EB per month in 2021 and is projected
to increase by more than 4 times to reach
400
49EB per month in 2027. This is driven by
350
two factors: high growth in the number of
smartphone users, including growth in rural
300 areas, and an increase in average usage
per smartphone.
250
200
150
100
50
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Figure 19: Mobile data traffic per smartphone (GB per month) CAGR
2021–
Regions 2021 2027 2027
55
North America 14.6 52 24%
50
Western Europe 15.2 51 23%
45
India 18.4 50 18%
40
North East Asia 13.9 48 23%
35
South East Asia
8.0 46 34%
and Oceania
30
GCC 22 46 13%
25
Middle East and
9.6 41 27%
North Africa
20
Global average 11.4 41 24%
15
Latin America 7.9 35 28%
10
Central and
9.9 32 22%
Eastern Europe
5
Sub-Saharan Africa 2.9 11 25%
0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Data growth in North America 2021, increasing from 11GB at the end of period, reaching 46GB per month in 2027 –
depends on 5G service uptake 2020. As a leading 5G market, the region is a CAGR of 34 percent. Total mobile
The average monthly mobile data usage in expected to continue its high growth and data traffic will grow accordingly, with
North America is expected to reach 52GB per the data traffic per smartphone is forecast to a CAGR of 39 percent, reaching 46EB per
smartphone in 2027. A smartphone-savvy reach 48GB per month in 2027. month, driven by continued growth in 4G
consumer base and video-rich applications, The Middle East and North Africa subscriptions and 5G uptake in markets
in combination with large data plans, will region is expected to have the third-highest where 5G has been launched.
drive traffic growth. While there may be growth rate during the forecast period, Latin America is expected to follow
strong growth in traffic per smartphone in increasing total mobile data traffic by a similar trend as South East Asia and
the near term, the adoption of immersive a factor of almost 6 between 2021 and Oceania over the forecast period on a
consumer services using AR/VR is expected 2027. The average data per smartphone regional level, while individual countries
to lead to even higher growth in the long is expected to reach 41GB per month in show very different growth rates for traffic
term. In 2027, 5G subscription penetration 2027. Looking more closely at the per smartphone. Traffic growth is driven by
in North America is set to be the highest of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) coverage build-out and continued adoption
all regions at 90 percent. countries, data traffic per smartphone is of 4G (and eventually 5G), linked to a rise in
Traffic growth in Western Europe expected to be the highest globally at the smartphone subscriptions and an increase
follows a similar pattern to that expected end of 2021 at 22GB per month. By the in average data usage per smartphone. The
in North America. The more fragmented end of the forecast period, it is expected data traffic per smartphone on a regional
market situation is anticipated to lead to to reach an average of 46GB per month. level is expected to reach 35GB per month
later mass-market adoption of 5G, but Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to in 2027.
in 2027, traffic usage per smartphone is have the second-highest growth rate in In Central and Eastern Europe, growth
expected to reach 51GB per month – close total mobile data traffic during the forecast is fueled by 4G and 5G adoption. Over the
to the usage in North America at that time. period, but from a relatively small base, forecast period, the monthly traffic per
with total mobile data traffic increasing smartphone is expected to increase from
5G growth in monthly mobile data from 1.3EB per month in 2021 to 7.6EB in 9.9GB to 32GB per month.
usage continues in North East Asia 2027. Average traffic per smartphone is It is important to bear in mind that
Video consumption, remote working, mobile expected to reach 11GB per month over the there are significant variations in monthly
gaming and new types of streaming such as forecast period. data consumption within regions, with
AR/VR are driving up mobile data usage in South East Asia and Oceania will see individual countries and service providers
the region. Monthly usage per smartphone data traffic per smartphone increasing at having considerably higher monthly
is estimated to reach 13.9GB by the end of the fastest rate globally over the forecast consumption than any regional averages.
5G network coverage
momentum continues
5G is expected to be the fastest-deployed mobile

communication technology in history and is forecast to
cover about 75 percent of the world’s population in 2027.
Global 4G population coverage was over population coverage. 5G is still expected sunsetting of 3G. This is expected to
80 percent at the end of 2020 and is to be the fastest-deployed mobile stretch until the mid-2020s, in parallel
forecast to reach around 95 percent in technology in history. with the 3G sunset in the first wave.
2027. 4G networks are evolving to deliver The second step is the sunset of 2G,
increased network capacity and faster data Network sunsets becoming a reality which is not expected until closer to
speeds. There are currently 796 commercial The continuous global built-out of 4G 2030. For this step, technologies like
4G networks deployed across the world. and 5G networks, and the corresponding spectrum sharing are important enablers
Of these, 336 have been upgraded to increase in capabilities, have become an to keeping a thin layer of 2G. This wave
LTE-Advanced, and 47 Gigabit LTE enabler for “sunsetting” or shutting down also includes parts of South East Asia
networks have been commercially launched. legacy technologies – that is, 2G/3G. and the remaining parts of North America.
This enables further enhancements of the • Third wave: This includes parts of the
5G is estimated to cover networks by releasing more, important world with lower penetration of 4G
over 2 billion people in 2021 parts of the spectrum for 4G and 5G. and 5G technologies, mainly in Eastern
The build-out of 5G networks is continuing Globally, this can be recognized Europe, Africa, the Middle East and
to accelerate and, to date, there have been in three different “waves”: the remaining parts of South East Asia.
more than 180 commercial launches across • First wave: Mainly parts of North Here, 3G will still be important to provide
the world. It is estimated that 5G networks America, North East Asia, Australia and mobile broadband for some years to
will cover over 2 billion people at the end New Zealand are closing down 2G. This come. Both 2G and 3G are then expected
of 2021. has, to a large extent, already taken to reach sunset closer to 2030.
By end of 2027, we estimate that 5G place. The next step in these areas is the The Gulf Cooperation Council countries
population coverage will have reached sunset of 3G, which is expected before are an exception, where the plans
around 75 percent. This higher uptake the mid-2020s. are somewhere between the first
is driven by several factors, one of them • Second wave: In Western Europe and second waves.
being that population-rich countries, there is a larger dependency on 2G, so
such as India, will have achieved a high the second wave has started with the
Figure 20: World population Figure 21: Legacy technology sunsetting timeline
coverage by technology1
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
3GPP
First wave
2020 ~95%
2027 >95%
Second wave
LTE (4G)
Third wave
2020 >80%
2027 ~95% Note: This is a generic description of what could happen based on current data.
There are of course countries and service providers that do not follow these three mainstream waves.
5G
2020 ~15%
2027 ~75%
1
he figures refer to coverage of each technology. The ability to utilize the
T
technology is subject to factors such as access to devices and subscriptions.
23 Articles Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Articles
This is a time of incredible innovation With FET, we explore how

within mobile networks. These articles
explore how networks can be made a strong 5G infrastructure
faster, more sustainable and even
contribute to economic recovery.

is the foundation for the
digital future.
The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia has a

bright vision for a digital
future; here’s how stc’s 5G
deployment is contributing
to the vision.
A Smartphone Lab study

showed that web browsing

is more demanding on
downlink throughput than
video – what does this
mean for service providers?
Mobile data traffic grew

by a factor of 287 over

10 years – how can service
providers keep their
networks sustainable,
while growth is so high?
Building 5G infrastructure
for the digital future
High-performance networks as the

foundation for digital transformation.
Far EasTone (FET), Taiwan, is building AI enables a cost–performance

a 5G network targeting premium optimized network deployment
performance and coverage to maximize FET is one of the top 3 service providers
customer experience. A network in Taiwan, with around 7 million mobile
infrastructure that is the foundation to subscriptions. At about USD 20, they have
fulfill the increasing customer demand the highest average revenue per user
for daily and instantaneous digital (ARPU)1 of all service providers in Taiwan.
access to healthcare, entertainment, ARPU was in decline prior to the launch
education, e-commerce and information. of 5G services, but is now growing due This article was written in cooperation
An easy-to-access, and secure digital to 5G subscribers’ higher contribution. with Far EasTone, a market-leading
environment for consumers, FET launched its 5G commercial services service provider in Taiwan, which
enterprises, and society. in July 2020, achieving a 14 percent 5G provides telecommunications and
penetration (1 million subscriptions) by digital application services to help
Strong demand fueling data traffic growth August 2021, with a target of 20 percent people stay connected and be the
Taiwan is a highly competitive market, with by the end of 2021. best partner in everyone’s digital life.
5 service providers serving a combined FET’s initial 5G network deployment
total of 29.5 million mobile subscriptions. strategy is based on a large-scale,
Mobile data consumption per subscriber is fast-paced, wide-coverage deployment of
among the highest in the world, yet despite high-quality 5G New Radio (NR) For 5G network deployment, site selection is
this high consumption, service providers equipment on the mid-band 3.5GHz based on AI analytics of real traffic usage
in Taiwan are top ranked in global mobile frequency (80MHz bandwidth). This and user behavior. This enables a more
network experience benchmarks measured provides a significant increase in network precise cost–performance analysis to
by external parties. The first 5G networks in speeds. It will be followed by deploying prioritize the sites that most urgently need
Taiwan were commercially launched in 5G NR on low-band frequencies and capacity enhancements. However, for
mid-2020, as a measure to meet the enabling 5G NR carrier aggregation to optimized network deployment it is not only
increasing demand for mobile data with improve both throughput and mid-band site-level decisions that are considered, but
cost-efficient capacity enhancements and to coverage. Continuous field testing provides also how to deploy 5G in clusters to achieve
enable new digital services that require more valuable insights for planning, designing, better network optimization and tuning
network bandwidth and lower latencies for a tuning and optimizing the network across the whole network. FET’s mid-band
satisfactory service experience. performance. When the 4G network was deployment has resulted in 5G population
In 2017, the average mobile data traffic deployed, the geographical site selection coverage of 75 percent in the first 12 months,
per subscriber in Taiwan was over 5 times was based solely on technical considerations. with a target of 90 percent by the end of 2021.
higher than the average in North East Asia
– 13.7GB compared to 2.6GB per month.
Figure 22: Taiwan’s mobile data traffic per subscriber (GB per month)
When all service providers introduced
unlimited data plans at a comparably low 30
price (USD 15 per month) in 2018, the 26.6
average data consumption increased and 25 22.5
reached 18GB per month in 2019. This has 20 18.1
increased further over the last 2 years to 16.2
around 26GB per month in 2021. Currently, 15 13.7
the majority of mobile subscribers in 10.5
10 9.0
Taiwan have an unlimited data plan which,
together with a strong demand for mobile 5
services, drives the high data consumption.
0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
1
Blended ARPU, Q2 2021. Note: All service providers’ subscribers included. 2021 data as of September.
COVID-19’s impact on data consumption Improving network performance These techniques resulted in an 80 percent
On May 19, 2021, authorities raised the during COVID-19 restrictions drop in customer complaints in 90 percent
COVID-19 warning to level 3 throughout FET adjusted its network deployment of the network’s most congested areas.
Taiwan, meaning the virus was in general strategy to meet customer behavior The change in customer behavior and
circulation. Consequently, travel and changes and further enhance network the increased data consumption during
meeting restrictions were imposed across performance to meet the increased the COVID-19 restrictions highlighted
Taiwan. The pandemic brought significant traffic demand. In-person site visits to the need for fast and reliable broadband
changes in mobile data consumption add additional spectrum resources and connectivity. It soon became clear that an
patterns, with traffic redistribution from hardware were not an option. Instead, agile response to free up network resources
densely urban areas to residential areas. the priority was on tuning and activating to meet the increased traffic demand was
People’s mobility behavior changed and software features. The importance of needed, with a priority to maintain high
about 10 percent of FET’s subscriber increased flexibility for assigning resources customer satisfaction.
base stayed in their residential areas more dynamically to high-loaded network
permanently, resulting in a high load on areas became apparent. This was achieved 5G subscribers consume more
parts of the 4G network. by using different techniques: data than 4G subscribers
Before the pandemic, mobile traffic peak • a new customer relationship The 4G network is highly loaded,
hours were usually 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, management (CRM) system supporting so subscribers are migrating to 5G
but once restrictions were put in place high identification of areas with the to experience even better network
usage levels began at 7:00 AM as home most customer complaints performance. In September 2021,
working and remote study classes started, • leveraging traffic detection function 39 percent of 5G subscriber-generated
with longer busy hours throughout the day. (TDF) to accurately identify which traffic was carried by the 5G network and
The services that grew most during the areas displayed traffic pattern changes they were attached to the 5G network
level 3 restriction period (May–July) were • using TDF in the core network to impose 25 percent of the time. The average
primarily business communications the correct fair usage policies data usage of FET´s subscribers with
services, video conferencing and streamed • identifying the most congested areas unlimited 5G plans is 60GB per month
audio/video content. The 19 percent traffic and optimal use of the number of carriers compared to 51GB for 4G subscribers on
growth during the 3-month restriction for subscribers, for example, instead similar plans, which is about a 20 percent
period became difficult to manage, as of having 3CC2 carrier aggregation per difference. Compared to another leading
network engineers were restricted from subscriber, it was reduced to 1CC – giving 5G market with high average monthly data
going out to sites and installing additional less peak throughput per subscriber, and consumption, the consumption difference
network capacity. allowing more users to share the spectrum between subscribers on unlimited data
resources to secure user experience plans in South Korea is around
35 percent (39.1GB compared with
28.8GB, September 2021). In both
Figure 23: FET mobile data traffic per subscriber (GB per month)
markets, early adopters migrating from
No restrictions COVID-19 level 3 restrictions 4G to 5G spend more time on consuming
34.0 33.9 data and services in higher resolution or
35 32.0 32.1
30.3 VR/AR formats, which contributes to the
30 28.5
difference in data consumption between
25 4G and 5G subscribers.
20 The main contributing factors to FET
subscribers’ current high average monthly
15
data consumption are:
10
• high usage of video streaming services
5 • a large proportion of the subscriber base
0 on unlimited 4G and 5G data plans
April May June July August September • with unlimited data plans, consumers
Source: National Communication Committee (NCC), Taiwan. continuously use their mobile phones over
mobile networks instead of occasionally
switching to Wi-Fi, which was especially
Figure 24: FET mobile data traffic per subscriber (GB per month), September 2021 apparent during the pandemic
70 • the continuing evolution of new device
60 capabilities and improved network
60
51 performance with 5G stimulates data
50 consumption, that is, device-driven
40 organic traffic growth
30 • fast 5G population coverage build-out,
30
with 75 percent build-out during the first
20 12 months of deployment
10
0
All data plans (4G+5G) 4G unlimited plans 5G unlimited plans
Source: FET.
2
ach aggregated carrier is referred to as a component carrier, CC. The CC can have a bandwidth
E
of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20MHz and a maximum of 5 CCs can be aggregated, hence the maximum
aggregated bandwidth is 100MHz. (www.3gpp.org).
Figure 25: Taiwan regions
Northwest
Northeast
Central
South
Figure 26: User average experienced speeds
Downlink: 5G network – FET 4G/5G network – FET 4G/5G network – Taiwan average 5G network: Average 5G user experience
speeds when within 5G coverage.
Uplink: 5G network – FET 4G/5G network – FET 4G/5G network – Taiwan average
4G/5G network: Average 5G user experience
speeds when within 4G/5G coverage.
350
300
Network performance (Mbps)
250
200
150
100
50
0
Northeast Northwest Central South
Region
Source: Ericsson field tests, Q3 2021.
Note: The field test results are somewhat lower compared to third-party published network performance data.
The difference mainly relates to methodology, where field tests are using full-buffer downloads. Hence, data
transmission is included on top of the original network load. 5G speed samples are on 3.5GHz.
Improved network performance uplink and downlink speeds better than This difference is driven by better 5G
drives higher satisfaction the average speeds for the three largest network performance. FET adopted a
Service providers in Taiwan use 5G network operators throughout Taiwan. targeted approach to achieve this, focusing
performance as a key to differentiation This strong focus on network on deploying capacity enhancements in
in the highly competitive market. FET’s performance has paid off. FET consumer 7,000 specifically identified village areas
strategy of a fast-paced build-out and a research shows that the Net Promoter to improve smartphone experience for
continuously optimized 5G network has Score (NPS) of 5G subscribers is higher increased customer satisfaction.
resulted in a high-performing network with than the NPS of 4G subscribers.
Figure 27: FET’s NPS (4G+5G users)
14% 12.7%
12%
10%
8.3%
8%
5.7%
6%
3.7%
4%
2%
0%
June July August September
Note: Based on FET´s regular monthly survey of existing customers.
Figure 28: Difference between FET´s 5G and 4G users NPS

(percentage points – p.p.)
25
FET’s 5G subscriber NPS was
20.6p.p.
18.4p.p. about 18 p.p higher than for its 4G
20
17.0p.p. 17.1p.p. subscribers in September 2021.
18
15
10
0
June July August September
Source: FET (Taiwan).
Note: Based on FET´s regular monthly survey of existing customers.
Video streaming services More 5G choice drives higher ARPU More than 85 percent of FET’s
popular among 5G subscribers FET offers a range of 5G data plans 5G subscribers are on data plans
FET pursues a long-term, focused differentiated by price, data allowance, priced USD 36 or higher.
85
consumer service strategy with a prime maximum speed and value-added services.
objective of providing a high-quality 5G An important strategy going forward is
network performance. The current main to add new content and devices while
driver for consumers to upgrade from updating existing content and benefits on
%
4G to 5G is the elevated mobile internet the different 5G service plans. This will help
user experience for streaming services drive subscriber uptake further, motivate
made possible by 5G’s improved network the price premium and differentiate from
performance. Consumers who have the 4G service plans. Offering a wider
migrated from 4G to 5G display similar choice of data plan options and enticing
usage behaviors as before, mainly using customers to subscribe to premium 5G
over-the-top (OTT), but streaming more plans has resulted in higher ARPU. More At the same time, several initiatives have
video in higher resolutions. The most than 85 percent of FET´s 5G subscribers been launched with enterprises and the
used services by 5G subscribers are video are on data plans priced USD 36 or higher, public sector to improve their services and
streaming and cloud gaming. However, 5G as of Q2 2021. efficiency with 5G applications in segments
service usage is not yet driving significant like smart manufacturing, smart cities,
traffic volumes. Emerging 5G enterprise opportunities automotive intelligent transport systems,
FET’s 5G digital entertainment services FET has initially focused on a fast ports, mining, and healthcare (such as
include 4K video streaming, VR and deployment of a high-quality, wide-area 5G telemedicine). These represent some of the
multi-view content, lossless sound quality network to address the consumer business emerging business areas that will benefit
music streaming and cloud gaming. These opportunity. FET is committed to developing from the reliability, security, high data rates
services provide new user experiences and new innovative 5G services through and low deterministic latency that come
differentiate 5G from 4G. The multi-view partnerships and collaborations, along with with a 5G network.
streaming video service is included on all a continued strong focus on providing high It’s possible to envision the 5G network
5G plans, while VR is only included on top network quality. New network capabilities infrastructure as the foundation for
of the four premium plans. will be implemented to enable a wide variety supporting all aspects of the customer’s
of services with enhanced network flexibility daily life. More applications and services
and faster time-to-market. will be developed to help meet consumer
demand for a worry-free life as the digital
future becomes the digital today.
Network build-out to
boost digitalization
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is undergoing a

radical, nationwide digital transformation. 5G investment
and the creation of a solid infrastructure to boost
coverage are key to realizing the vision of the future.
The KSA ranked second globally among broadband connections (fiber) to more
the G20 countries in the Digital Riser report than 1 million households and provided
2021,1 recently issued by the European fixed wireless broadband connectivity to
Center for Digital Competitiveness, around 500,000 households, connecting
advancing 20 ranks in the general index more than 2.6 million people in 3,000
compared to the previous year. The report remote localities. In addition, the 4G
analyzed and ranked 140 countries by their mobile network has undergone extensive
digital competitiveness over the last 3 years. modernization and expansion to improve
Based on the evaluation criteria, countries network performance. stc contributed
implementing public-private partnerships to the deployment of 60,000 Wi-Fi This article was written in cooperation
to foster innovation and entrepreneurship hotspots through its collaboration with with stc, a market-leading digital
come out on top of the list. The leap in the Communications and Information enabler in Saudi Arabia, providing
ranking reflects the ambition and progress Technology Commission (CITC) to serve innovative digital services and
of the KSA’s strategy in developing public locations, for example, in hospitals, platforms to customers in the
the country’s telecommunications shopping malls and city parks, allowing MENA region.
infrastructure’s digital capabilities as part users 2 hours of free access every day, to
of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative. further boost digitalization in the KSA.
When the Saudi Vision 2030 stc was among the first service
initiative was introduced in 2016, there providers in the world to launch 5G, with 5G network deployment strategy
was an increased governmental focus commercial services available since stc is the largest digital enabler in the
on reducing dependency on oil by June 2019. It has deployed about 6,200 KSA, with around 20 million mobile
diversifying the economy and developing sites with 5G in 75 cities, in 56 out of subscriptions, earning them a market
public service sectors such as health, 136 governorates. The deployment of share of 40 percent. stc launched its
education, infrastructure, recreation and 5G networks is a cornerstone of stc’s 5G commercial services in June 2019
tourism. Several digital programs were strategy to improve network performance. and currently has more than 1.5 million
administrated under this initiative. Among However, when the COVID-19 pandemic 5G subscribers. The network deployment
these are collaborations between service hit in 2020, there was a strong increase has resulted in a 5G population coverage
providers and the government to build solid in demand for mobile data which quickly of 32 percent since the launch of
telecommunications infrastructure as part surpassed the forecasted data traffic commercial services, with a target of
of the National Transformation Program, growth. In response, stc accelerated its 42 percent by the end of 2022.
one of the Saudi Vision 2030’s realization 5G roll-out pace to raise network capacity
programs, enhancing both the fixed and and ensure continuity of services and
mobile network infrastructure. network performance for its customers.
The KSA is in a transitional phase where In addition, several digital initiatives
digitalization, supported by a solid network related to the health care sector – for
infrastructure build-out, is a national example facilitating connections between
priority for the coming years. As part of this patients and doctors, as well as managing,
program, during 2018–2020, the digital storing and displaying medical images
enabler Saudi Telecom Company (stc) remotely – were launched to support in
achieved the roll-out of high-speed fixed curbing the spread of the disease.
1
The European Center for Digital Competitiveness, ”Digital Riser report 2021”, (September 2021), digital-competitiveness.eu/digitalriser.
stc’s 4G subscribers have an average One of the driving forces behind the 5G
monthly data consumption, including all coverage build-out is the demand rate 5G consumer offerings
types of terminals, of 43GB, while the same of mobile subscribers in the KSA to this
for stc’s 5G subscribers is 101GB. This new technology generation, which is stc currently offers a range of pre- and
difference is mainly due to the 5G fixed much faster than the industry average. postpaid 5G mobile data packages,
wireless access (FWA) subscribers’ higher A precision-based 5G deployment 5G FWA and 5G MiFi-packages. The
data consumption and more customers on strategy has also resulted in improved 6 available postpaid 5G mobile data
unlimited 5G plans. Since December 2020, network downlink and uplink speeds. packages range from USD 21 for 6GB
the number of active 5G users has grown stc uses advanced analytics to identify (+6GB social media) up to USD 138
by 12 percent monthly, and is expected and prioritize its 5G investment to yield for the cheapest of the 2 unlimited
to grow even faster as device vendors are maximum value and return on investment. data packages. As a value-added
increasingly promoting 5G models over the service, the two unlimited packages
4G ones in their portfolios. Investing in network performance include a subscription to a video
stc’s initial network deployment strategy The strong focus on investing in mobile streaming service. Additional services,
is to extend 5G coverage throughout the network performance has put the KSA such as subscriptions to app store
KSA to: among the top-ranked countries in mobile galleries, gaming, video and audio
• accelerate 5G adoption for enhanced network speed benchmarking by external streaming services provided by stc
customer experience parties.2 Since Q1 2020, the average mobile partners, can be directly billed on the
• address the business data usage network downlink speed has increased by a postpaid monthly bill or prepaid credit
demand while maintaining top ranking factor of 3, rising from 56 to 147Mbps.3 balance. There is no price premium
in network downlink speed performance In stc’s mobile network, the average charged for 5G on the mobile
• enable new services and products using downlink and uplink performance is data plans. All subscribers with a
advanced 5G use cases and capabilities about 10 percent better than the KSA 5G-enabled device and a subscription
• accelerate network innovation average. The average download speed can access the 5G network.
• accelerate digital transformation using 5G throughout stc’s network was
through the build-out of a solid 398Mbps in Q2 2021, a 14 percent increase
network infrastructure compared to the average of 348Mbps in
Q1. In the KSA, the average 5G download
speed was 370Mbps in Q2 2021.4
The improved performance for stc is due to
continuous ongoing projects for expanding,
modernizing and upgrading the network
with the latest technologies.
Figure 29: 5G network performance, average downlink speed comparison (Mbps)
KSA 5G stc 5G
400 The average 5G download speed in

the KSA was 370Mbps in Q2 2021.
370
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021
2
See for example: opensignal.com/2021/04/15/benchmarking-the-global-5g-experience-april-2021.
3
Communications and Information Technology Commission, citc.gov.sa.
4
Average download speed including all service providers’ data.
Closing the digital divide stc is working on reducing the digital 5G use case areas in focus
An important objective with extending divide by developing the ICT infrastructure The growth of 5G mobile services plays
coverage, modernizing and optimizing needed to fulfill that vision. Facilitating a crucial part in the KSA’s overall plan to
stc’s fixed and mobile broadband network and developing high-quality, reliable, modernize and digitize its economy. stc
performance is to further close the digital sustainable and resilient are currently exploring new innovative
divide between densely populated and telecommunications network solutions and services that will make full
remote areas. The infrastructure should infrastructure is considered essential for use of the 5G network capabilities. Part
support flawless delivery of online supporting the economic development of of this work is about identifying new
services like e-education, e-government the society and increasing digital literacy business models for entrepreneurs and
and e-commerce to consumers, and skills. 5G is one of the most important enterprises that enable them to transform
enterprises and society. This is all part pillars to providing the required their business with the support of the
of stc’s contribution strategy to the connectivity infrastructure for both latest network technologies and services.
Saudi Vision 2030 strategic framework. consumers and enterprises to accelerate An innovation hub has been established
One key principle of the Saudi Vision 2030 their digital transformation. in partnership with international
is that access to the internet should be a companies to work with enterprises
basic right for all people in the KSA, to co-develop solutions to accelerate
regardless of personal economic conditions. innovation and digitization.
Figure 30: Mobile network performance (all technologies), average downlink speed comparison (Mbps)
KSA average stc

160
Since Q1 2020, the average downlink
speed in the KSA has increased
140 by a factor of 3, rising to 147Mbps.
147
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021
Figure 31: Mobile network performance (all technologies), average uplink speed comparison (Mbps)
KSA uplink stc uplink
30
The average downlink and
uplink performance in stc’s mobile
network is around 10 percent
25
better than the KSA average.
10
20
%
15
10
0
Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021
Use case areas in particular focus are:
Gaming
Leveraging 5G networks’ ultra-low latency
capabilities, stc has established a new
subsidiary focusing on gaming and entered
a partnership with a cloud gaming provider
to develop solutions and gaming packages.
Smart cities
stc is working with partners, government
agencies and municipalities to develop
smart city solutions.
SOHO
Wireless-based cloud office for small office
and home office (SOHO) enterprises over
the 5G network with guaranteed QoS.
Secure campus network over 5G

stc is leveraging the 5G standalone (SA)
network capabilities in its core network, using
network slicing technologies to enable
offerings such as smart and secure campus
networks for enterprises over the 5G network.
Use case exploration will rely on the availability of future sustainable cities, integrating “smart city” technologies
high-performance networks that can immediately show value to benefit both residents’ and enterprises’ daily business.
in limited proof-of-concept trials, while being ready to support The city will also host an innovation center for applications in
upscaling to larger swathes of industries. VR, AR, smart home development, autonomous vehicles and
stc will also deploy 5G and IoT networks to support the the interaction between residents and digital infrastructure.
development of NEOM, a planned cross-border city in the
north-western KSA that is intended to become a model for
Time-to-content: Benchmarking
network performance
Service providers are aware that a good user experience is key for driving
customer satisfaction, thereby reducing churn and improving financial
return. Here, we outline an objective method to measure and benchmark
the network performance required for a positive user experience.
Video streaming accounts for the majority The results indicated a decreasing TTC
Ericsson Smartphone Lab tested
of mobile network traffic, and has naturally (y-axis) as the downlink throughput
webpage downloads using the
been a focus area for improvement. (x-axis) increased. A regression model of
Google Chrome web browser on a
Compression techniques and adaptive the downlink throughput was chosen to
recently launched flagship mobile
mechanisms have been very effective at fit a curve that would be representative of
device. Google’s “Largest Contentful
lowering the time-to-play and adapting the results. Factors used in the regression
Paint” (LCP) metric was used
to changing network conditions. But while analysis, including device performance,
to determine how fast the main
streaming is buffered, web services place network latency and web content size,
content of a page was rendered
higher demands on network performance were then projected in a model for
on the device display.
as they require instant speed. Therefore, 2025 (Figure 33).
meeting the requirements for web Some sites keep their webpage content
browsing will also satisfy the demands of intentionally low in order to be fast-loading
many other use cases, including HD video For video, the user experience is with a reduced dependency on factors
streaming and social media. affected by both the time-to-play and such as throughput. However, the majority
Web services are interactive, which avoiding stalls during play-out. Video have richer content with a high dependency.
means that every time a user makes a streaming uses buffering to smooth out By taking the 75th percentile instead of
choice or sends a request by clicking on throughput variability. the median, throughput requirements can
a link or filling in a form it sets up a delay Video is also a key element in a growing be determined that are representative of
that directly contributes to user experience. set of media that includes VR, AR and a large number of websites.
This is different to services like video, where gaming. These are real-time services that With a TTC scale, which grades sites on
users tend to stay with the content for a generally cannot be buffered, as with a scale of excellent (<1.5s), good (1.5–2.5s),
longer period. The responsiveness of the most current streaming video services, so fair (2.5–4.0s) or poor (>4.0s), we can
service is measured in seconds, and while will increasingly put demands on network derive the throughput that would be
a good time-to-content (TTC) is very much performance over time beyond those required to meet a certain TTC target.
subject to context and user expectations, for web-browsing and related services. For example, based on the results of the
there are scales that can be applied, such Current consensus is that these real-time 2025 model, a TTC target of below 1.5s
as the one defined by Google in their Core applications will not be a material portion would require a throughput of at least
Web Vitals developer framework.1 of mobile traffic before 2025. 20Mbps (Figure 33).
Web browsing versus video streaming Ericsson’s Smartphone Lab study What does this mean
Webpages consist of many objects that A selection of 50 popular websites for service providers?
are fetched to form a complete page. were tested using an automated lab Service providers can adopt this
The design and type of webpages can have environment. Figure 32 represents the TTC approach while optimizing their networks.
a substantial impact on TTC as shown measurement for the webpages at different Throughput measurements taken on live
in Figure 32. Moreover, web services are downlink throughput rates. The results were network data sessions, and logged on
usually interactive with content leading calculated for each throughput in a range performance counters in network nodes,
to more user requests – each with its own from 1–30Mbps. The results indicated can be benchmarked and plotted on a
TTC delay. This is unlike video streaming a strong relationship between available scale. This will help to identify and prioritize
behavior, which is characterized by a downlink throughput and the TTC. network improvements on the cell level in
request followed by a length of video played order to make the biggest impact on user
out. The interactivity and TTC for web experience possible for any given level of
services are what demand instant speed. network investment.
1
Web Vitals, Essential metrics for a healthy site, web.dev/vitals.
A snapshot of the results from the Ericsson Smartphone Lab study
Figure 32: Automated lab environment website test results Figure 33: TTC targets for 2025 model
TTC from tested websites 75th percentile 2025 projection Poor Fair Good Excellent
30 30
25 25
20 20
Time (seconds)
Time (seconds)
15 15
5Mbps 10Mbps 20Mbps
~4s ~2.5s ~1.5s
10 10
5 5
0 0
1 2 3 5 7 10 12 15 20 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Downlink throughput (Mbps) Downlink throughput (Mbps)
Building sustainable 287x

Mobile data traffic
networks
Mobile data traffic is projected to grow by over 4 times to

reach 288EB per month in 2027. Service providers must
simultaneously reduce energy consumption to
contribute towards reducing carbon emissions.
Mobile subscriptions have grown from The Radio Access Network (RAN) is a
6 billion in 2011 to 8.1 billion in 2021, key focus area, as it accounts for the vast
with smartphone subscriptions growing majority of the total energy consumption in
from 0.7 billion to 6.3 billion over the same mobile networks.
period, driving traffic from just below One innovation area supporting traffic
0.25EB per month to 65EB per month – growth is the evolution of spectrum
a factor of almost 300 times. This traffic efficiency.1 This has significantly increased
growth has been supported by an increased with every generation of mobile
population coverage and multiple mobile technology, including rising by 200 percent
generations running in parallel, adding the for 5G compared to 4G. This stems from
required traffic capacity. modulation improvements and scale
Whilst traffic has grown exponentially effects as bandwidths increase and are
over the last 10 years, service providers’ major contributors to preventing energy
global network energy consumption has consumption from growing at the same
risen by just 64 percent, from 91TWh to rate as traffic.
an estimated 150TWh. This illustrates When examining typical network
that there is only a weak correlation traffic patterns, several short gaps in data
between traffic growth and increased transmissions can be observed, even during
energy consumption. There is a stronger highly loaded times. During these gaps,
linkage to the deployment of new bands power consumption is reduced by quickly
and equipment, reflected in increasing putting components into sleep mode, and
population coverage with multiple only activating them again before the next
mobile generations. transmission. Longer gaps mean more
components can be put to sleep, further
Technological innovation lowering energy consumption.
rising to the challenge In the 4G standard, the gaps where
Major technological innovations Micro Sleep and other energy-saving
have enabled mobile networks to features can operate are very short – 0.2ms
support significantly more traffic while at the most. The 5G New Radio (NR)
consuming only marginally more energy. standard has been designed based on
Through 5G standards and specification, knowledge of typical traffic activity in radio
new innovations are being deployed networks and the need to support sleep
to not only continue supporting states in radio-network equipment. This
growing data demands, but to help allows 5G NR to provide much better support
drive down energy consumption. for implementing energy-saving features.
17.2x
4G population
coverage
Figure 34: 10-year growth factors
8.7x
Smartphone
subscriptions
1.1x 1.6x 1.1x 1.4x
Total ICT energy Mobile network energy 3GPP population Mobile subscriptions
consumption (TWh) consumption (TWh) coverage (%)
Energy consumption Network growth
1
“Spectrum efficiency” here refers to bits per second, per hertz, per cell (essentially, the information rate per cell over a given bandwidth).
Figure 35: A holistic approach to energy efficiency in mobile networks
Activate energy-saving
software
Creating
Build 5G
Prepare the network sustainable
with precision
networks
Operate site
infrastructure intelligently
The time between mandatory this challenge by applying a holistic network operational efficiencies and achieved
transmissions can be as long as 20ms approach that will gradually reduce energy significant power savings whilst
in standalone mode and 160ms in consumption. This is achieved by combining maintaining network KPIs.
non-standalone mode – 100 to 800 times network modernization with new features
longer than 4G. In addition, 5G NR requires and capabilities that can be applied in Introducing renewable
far fewer always-on signaling network design, build and energy-smart energy to mobile network sites
transmissions in the frequency domain. operations, as exemplified in Figure 35. The switch to renewables goes beyond
Superior radio network energy In addition to this holistic approach, the purchasing sustainable energy. In a
performance was an important switch to renewable energy sources is decisive step towards net-zero emissions,
consideration when the 5G NR standard critical for achieving the overall reduction Deutsche Telekom has brought solar power
was agreed upon. Its ultra-lean design in carbon emissions. to commercial mobile broadband sites
creates new possibilities for drastically for the first time.
decreasing network energy consumption Building 5G with precision The 12sq m solar panels were installed
compared to previous generations. It also Having a wide range of equipment to cover at Deutsche Telekom’s mobile site in
has a much higher capacity and is able to different deployment scenarios enables Dittenheim, Germany during the second
produce lower loads as a percentage of networks to be built with precision. In order half of 2020. Throughout July 2021, they
the total capacity a certain traffic volume to fit in more locations, an ultra-lightweight contributed an average of 14 percent to
utilizes. This, coupled with the ability for design is used in the latest Massive MIMO the site’s overall power supply, increasing
deeper and longer periods of sleep, results radios making them smaller and more to about 83 percent between 12:00 PM
in the potential to significantly reduce the energy efficient. This was illustrated at the and 2:00 PM. This enabled average solar
energy consumption of 5G NR products – site level by Vodafone UK, which placed energy harvesting of 11.5kWh per day
eventually lowering overall network an antenna on the roof of the Speechmark in June, increasing to 15.1kWh on sunny
energy consumption. – Vodafone UK’s London office. The days. Across the year, including winter,
deployment of the latest antenna-integrated solar is forecast to contribute to about
A holistic approach for service providers radio solution saw equipment’s daily 11 percent of total RAN site energy.
The deployment of every new mobile energy consumption drop by an average
generation since 3G has led to concerns of 43 percent compared to previous Mobile networks are only part of the story
about increasing mobile network energy generations, and by as much as 55 percent A combination of switching to renewables,
consumption, and 5G is no exception. There at off-peak times – all while still meeting modernizing equipment and fully utilizing
are fears that if 5G is deployed in the same the site’s traffic demands. the energy-saving capabilities of today’s
way as previous generations to meet rising mobile networks can immediately
traffic demands, the energy consumption of A 360-degree view of an make a positive difference, contributing
mobile networks will increase dramatically. energy-efficient mobile service significantly towards service providers’
However, while historic figures show a A challenge for Indosat Ooredoo in net-zero emissions targets.
rise in global energy consumption over Indonesia was to reduce power However, the societal impact is much
time, it is not as significant as some early consumption without degrading KPIs in a greater. Connectivity is an enabling
expectations. Utilizing efficiency gains from highly loaded 4G residential cluster of technology, representing a fast, scalable
new mobile generations, combined with 68 macro sites. To achieve this, they took a tool to help address climate change.
new innovative operational approaches, holistic approach, activating energy-saving Indeed, digital technology may be the most
has been critical for keeping network software and operating the site powerful, scalable tool the world has to
energy consumption at a manageable level. infrastructure intelligently. The 4G tackle the climate crisis. As an accelerator,
To meet the industry aspiration for energy-saving features focused on sleep it could reduce global emissions by up
net-zero carbon emissions, an approach modes, additionally embracing AI and to 15 percent by 2030,2 and indirectly
that breaks the upward trajectory of global data analytics for intelligent management support a further reduction of 35 percent
network energy consumption is required. of infrastructure across 3,000 sites. through influencing consumer and business
Leading service providers are addressing Indosat Ooredoo realized improved decisions and systems transformation.
2
Exponential Roadmap (January 2020), exponentialroadmap.org.
36 Methodology and glossary Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Methodology
Forecast
Mobile subscriptions Rounding of figures Subscribers Mobile data traffic Population coverage
methodology
Forecast methodology FWA is defined as a connection that Mobile network traffic

Ericsson makes forecasts on a regular basis provides broadband access through Ericsson regularly performs traffic
to support internal decisions and planning, mobile network enabled customer premises measurements in over 100 live networks
as well as market communications. The equipment (CPE). This includes both indoor covering all major regions of the world.
forecast time horizon in the Mobility Report (desktop and window-mounted) and These measurements form a representative
is six years and is moved forward one year outdoor (rooftop and wall-mounted) CPE. base for calculating worldwide total mobile
in the November report each year. The It does not include portable battery-based network traffic. Mobile network data traffic
subscription and traffic forecast baseline Wi-Fi routers or dongles. also includes traffic generated by FWA
in this report is established using historical services. More detailed measurements
data from various sources, validated Rounding of figures are made in a selected number of
with Ericsson internal data, including As figures are rounded, summing up data commercial networks with the purpose
measurements in customer networks. may result in slight differences from the of understanding how mobile data traffic
Future developments are estimated actual totals. In tables with key figures, evolves. No subscriber data is included in
based on macroeconomic trends, user subscriptions have been rounded to these measurements. Please note that the
trends, market maturity and technological the nearest 10th of a million. However, Ericsson Mobility Report data traffic forecast,
advances. Other sources include industry when used in highlights in the articles, both global and regional, represents the
analyst reports, together with internal subscriptions are usually expressed in full estimated traffic volume in all networks over
assumptions and analyses. billions or to one decimal place. Compound the duration of a month. Traffic (in terms
Historical data may be revised if the annual growth rate (CAGR) is calculated on of throughput) in high-traffic areas will be
underlying data changes – for example, the underlying, unrounded numbers and is much higher than the average traffic.
if service providers report updated then rounded to the nearest full percentage
subscription figures. figure. Traffic volumes are expressed in two Population coverage
or three significant figures. Population coverage is estimated using a
Mobile subscriptions database of regional population and territory
Mobile subscriptions include all mobile Subscribers distribution, based on population density.
technologies. Subscriptions are defined There is a large difference between the This is then combined with proprietary data
by the most advanced technology that the numbers of subscriptions and subscribers. on the installed base of radio base stations
mobile phone and network are capable of. This is because many subscribers have (RBS), together with estimated coverage
Our mobile subscriptions by technology several subscriptions. Reasons for this per RBS for each of six population density
findings divide subscriptions according could include users lowering traffic costs by categories (from metro to wilderness).
to the highest-enabled technology they using optimized subscriptions for different Based on this, the portion of each area that
can be used for. LTE subscriptions, in most types of calls, maximizing coverage is covered by a certain technology can be
cases, also include the possibility for the and having different subscriptions for estimated, as well as the percentage of the
subscription to access 3G (WCDMA/HSPA) mobile PCs/tablets and mobile phones. population it represents. By aggregating
and 2G (GSM or CDMA in some markets) In addition, it takes time before inactive these areas, world population coverage per
networks. A 5G subscription is counted as subscriptions are removed from service technology can be calculated.
such when associated with a device that provider databases. Consequently,
supports New Radio as specified in 3GPP subscription penetration can be above Disclaimer
Release 15, and connected to a 5G-enabled 100 percent, which is the case in many The content of this document is based
network. Mobile broadband includes radio countries today. However, in some on a number of theoretical dependencies
access technologies HSPA (3G), LTE (4G), developing regions, it is common and assumptions. Ericsson shall not be
5G, CDMA2000 EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and for several people to share one bound by or liable for any statement,
Mobile WiMAX. WCDMA without HSPA subscription, for example via a representation, undertaking or omission
and GPRS/EDGE are not included. family- or community-shared phone. made in this document. Furthermore,
Ericsson may, at any time, change the
contents of this document at its sole
discretion and shall not be liable for the
consequences of such changes.
Ericsson Mobility Visualizer

Explore actual and forecast data from the Mobility Report in our Find out more
interactive web application. It contains a range of data types, Scan the QR code, or visit
including mobile subscriptions, mobile broadband subscriptions, ericsson.com/mobility-visualizer
mobile data traffic, traffic per application type, VoLTE statistics,
monthly data usage per device and an IoT connected device
forecast. Data can be exported and charts generated for publication
subject to the inclusion of an Ericsson source attribution.
37 Methodology and glossary Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Glossary
2G: 2nd generation mobile networks EN-DC: EUTRA-NR Dual connectivity NB-IoT: A 3GPP standardized low-power
(GSM, CDMA 1x) wide-area (LPWA) cellular technology for
FDD: Frequency division duplex IoT connectivity
3CC: Three component carrier
GB: Gigabyte, 109 bytes NR: New Radio as defined
3G: 3rd generation mobile networks by 3GPP Release 15
(WCDMA/HSPA, TD-SCDMA, CDMA Gbps: Gigabits per second
EV-DO, Mobile WiMAX) NR-DC: NR-NR Dual connectivity
GHz: Gigahertz, 109 hertz
3GPP: 3rd Generation Partnership Project (unit of frequency) PB: Petabyte, 1015 bytes
4G: 4th generation mobile networks GSA: Global mobile Suppliers Association Short-range IoT: Segment that largely
(LTE, LTE-A) consists of devices connected by
GSM: Global System for unlicensed radio technologies, with
4K: In video, a horizontal display Mobile Communications a typical range of up to 100 meters,
resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee
A resolution of 3840 × 2160 (4K UHD) is GSMA: GSM Association
used in television and consumer media. Smartphone: Mobile phone with OS
In the movie projection industry, HSPA: High speed packet access capable of downloading and running
4096 × 2160 (DCI 4K) is dominant ”apps“, e.g. iPhones, Android OS phones,
Kbps: Kilobits per second Windows phones and also Symbian
5G: 5th generation mobile networks and Blackberry OS
(IMT-2020) LTE: Long-Term Evolution
Sunsetting: The process of closing down
5G TF: A pre-3GPP NR technical MB: Megabyte, 106 bytes older mobile technologies
forum open specification
Mbps: Megabits per second TD-SCDMA: Time division-synchronous
AI: Artificial intelligence code-division multiple access
MHz: Megahertz, 106 hertz
App: A software application that (unit of frequency) TDD: Time division duplex
can be downloaded and run on
a smartphone or tablet MIMO: Multiple Input Multiple Output VoIP: Voice over IP (Internet Protocol)
is the use of multiple transmitters and
AR: Augmented reality. An interactive receivers (multiple antennas) on wireless VoLTE: Voice over LTE as defined by
experience of a real-world environment devices for improved performance GSMA IR.92 specification
whereby the objects that reside in the
real world are “augmented” by mmWave: Millimeter waves are radio VR: Virtual reality
computer-generated information frequency waves in the extremely high
frequency range (30–300GHz) with WCDMA: Wideband code-division
ARPU: Average revenue per user wavelengths between 10mm and 1mm. multiple access
In a 5G context, millimeter waves refer
CAGR: Compound annual growth rate to frequencies between 24 and 71GHz Wide-area IoT: Segment made up
(the two frequency ranges 26GHz and of devices using cellular connections
Cat-M1: A 3GPP standardized low-power 28GHz are included in millimeter range or unlicensed low-power technologies
wide-area (LPWA) cellular technology by convention) like Sigfox and LoRa
for IoT connectivity
Mobile broadband: Mobile data service
CDMA: Code-division multiple access using radio access technologies including
5G, LTE, HSPA, CDMA2000 EV-DO,
dB: In radio transmission, a decibel is a Mobile WiMAX and TD-SCDMA
logarithmic unit that can be used to sum
up total signal gains or losses from a Mobile PC: Defined as laptop or desktop
transmitter to a receiver PC devices with built-in cellular modem
or external USB dongle
EB: Exabyte, 1018 bytes
Mobile router: A device with a cellular
EDGE: Enhanced Data Rates network connection to the internet and
for Global Evolution Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection to one or
several clients (such as PCs or tablets)
38 Key figures Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Global and regional key figures
Global key figures Forecast CAGR*

Mobile subscriptions 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
Worldwide mobile subscriptions 7,970 8,140 8,940 2% million
• Smartphone subscriptions 5,910 6,260 7,700 3% million
• Mobile PC, tablet and mobile
router subscriptions 270 300 540 10% million
• Mobile broadband subscriptions 6,470 6,820 8,260 3% million
• Mobile subscriptions, GSM/EDGE-only 1,370 1,200 560 -12% million
• Mobile subscriptions, WCDMA/HSPA 1,690 1,510 700 -12% million
• Mobile subscriptions, LTE 4,590 4,740 3,280 -6% million
• Mobile subscriptions, 5G 274 660 4,390 37% million
• FWA connections 72 88 230 17% million
Fixed broadband connections 1,250 1,320 1,650 4% million
Mobile data traffic
• Data traffic per smartphone 9.1 11.4 41 24% GB/month
• Data traffic per mobile PC 16 17 26 7% GB/month
• Data traffic per tablet 8.1 9.3 22 15% GB/month
Total data traffic**

Mobile data traffic 49 65 288 28% EB/month
• Smartphones 47 63 281 28% EB/month
• Mobile PCs and routers 0.5 0.6 2.4 24% EB/month
• Tablets 1.1 1.3 4.1 21% EB/month
Fixed wireless access 9.5 14.5 82 34% EB/month
Total mobile network traffic 59 80 370 29% EB/month
Total fixed data traffic 170 220 550 17% EB/month
Regional key figures Forecast CAGR*

Mobile subscriptions 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
North America 390 400 460 2% million
Latin America 650 660 720 1% million
Western Europe 510 510 520 0% million
Central and Eastern Europe 560 560 560 0% million
North East Asia 2,070 2,130 2,260 1% million
China1 1,600 1,630 1,690 1% million
South East Asia and Oceania 1,130 1,150 1,230 1% million
India, Nepal and Bhutan 1,130 1,150 1,280 2% million
Middle East and North Africa 710 720 830 2% million
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)2 75 76 82 1% million
Sub-Saharan Africa 820 860 1,080 4% million
Forecast CAGR*
Smartphone subscriptions 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
Latin America 500 520 590 2% million
Central and Eastern Europe 390 390 430 1% million
North East Asia 1,860 1,950 2,140 2% million
China1 1,460 1,510 1,610 1% million
South East Asia and Oceania 840 910 1,120 3% million
India, Nepal and Bhutan 730 810 1,200 7% million
GCC2 61 63 72 2% million
Sub-Saharan Africa 440 500 800 8% million
39 Key figures Ericsson Mobility Report | November 2021
Regional key figures Forecast CAGR*

LTE subscriptions 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
North America 340 290 40 -28% million
Latin America 390 430 280 -7% million
Western Europe 390 410 80 -23% million
Central and Eastern Europe 300 340 330 -1% million
North East Asia 1,670 1,490 590 -14% million
China1 1,260 1,080 350 -17% million
South East Asia and Oceania 470 560 560 0% million
India, Nepal and Bhutan 680 790 710 -2% million
GCC2 60 61 12 -23% million
Sub-Saharan Africa 127 170 300 11% million
Forecast CAGR*
5G subscriptions 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
Latin America 1 8 310 N/A million
Central and Eastern Europe 0 2 230 N/A million
North East Asia 247 517 1,630 21% million
China1 228 460 1,310 19% million
South East Asia and Oceania 3 15 560 N/A million
India, Nepal and Bhutan 0 0 500 N/A million
Middle East and North Africa 1 10 210 N/A million
GCC2 1 6 65 47% million
Sub-Saharan Africa 0 3 100 N/A million
Forecast CAGR*
Data traffic per smartphone 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
North America 11.1 14.6 52 24% GB/month
Latin America 5.9 7.9 35 28% GB/month
Western Europe 11.2 15.2 51 23% GB/month
Central and Eastern Europe 7.6 9.9 32 22% GB/month
North East Asia 11.0 13.9 48 23% GB/month
China1 11.4 14.5 50 23% GB/month
South East Asia and Oceania 6.1 8.0 46 34% GB/month
India, Nepal and Bhutan 16.1 18.4 50 18% GB/month
Middle East and North Africa 7.0 9.6 41 27% GB/month
GCC2 18 22 46 13% GB/month
Sub-Saharan Africa 2.2 2.9 11.0 25% GB/month
Forecast CAGR*
Mobile data traffic 2020 2021 2027 2021–2027 Unit
North America 3.7 4.9 20 26% EB/month
Latin America 2.5 3.5 18 31% EB/month
Western Europe 4.3 5.7 21 24% EB/month
Central and Eastern Europe 2.4 3.1 11 24% EB/month
North East Asia 18.3 24 93 25% EB/month
China1 15.0 20 74 25% EB/month
South East Asia and Oceania 4.7 6.5 46 39% EB/month
India, Nepal and Bhutan 9.4 12 49 27% EB/month
Middle East and North Africa 2.6 3.8 23 34% EB/month
GCC2 0.9 1.1 2.6 16% EB/month
Sub-Saharan Africa 0.86 1.3 7.6 35% EB/month
1
These figures are also included in the figures for North East Asia.
2
These figures are also included in the figures for Middle East and North Africa.
* CAGR is calculated on unrounded figures.

** Figures are rounded (see methodology) and therefore summing up of rounded data may result in slight differences from the actual total.
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www.ericsson.com
Ericsson The content of this document is subject EAB-21:010887 Uen

SE-164 80 Stockholm, Sweden to revision without notice due to © Ericsson 2021
Telephone +46 10 719 0000 continued progress in methodology,
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ericsson.

Letter from the publisher

Forecasts Articles Key contributors

04 T en years of the 24 Building 5G infrastructure Executive Editor: Patrik Cerwall

Ten years of change

Ten years of the

In November 2011, Ericsson published the first edition

Figure 1: Comparison of forecasts vs. up-to-date data

Forecasted for 2016 Forecasted for 2021

Mobile PC/tablet subscriptions

Average traffic per smartphone

Total mobile traffic

Figure 2: YoY global mobile traffic growth

By the end of 2027, 5G subscriptions

Figure 3: Mobile subscriptions by technology (billion)

5G subscription uptake is expected

Figure 5: Subscriptions and subscribers (billion)

Mobile broadband subscriptions currently make

Figure 6: Mobile subscriptions by region and technology (percent)

Interest in 5G is growing in Latin America, and its deployment

By the end of 2027, 5G is expected

revenues. In addition, the 5G FWA market 20

Latin America (November 2020).

Over 75 percent of service providers are now offering fixed

Figure 9: Global number of service Figure 10: Regional percentage of

87% 13% 52%

60% 40% 83%

Figure 11: FWA connections

5G FWA connections 4G and other technology FWA connections

250 Definition of FWA

customer premises equipment (CPE).

Figure 12: Mobile data and FWA traffic

FWA trafﬁc Mobile data trafﬁc

More than 50 percent of service providers now

Figure 13: Number of service providers per type of offering

305 306 306 308

Fast, foldable and everywhere:

5G handset sales have taken off,

Broadband IoT still rising as

During 2021, broadband IoT (4G/5G) will overtake

Mobile network traffic

Mobile network data traffic grew 42 percent

Data Year-on-year growth

Year-on-year growth (percent)

Smartphones and video

In 2027, 5G networks will carry 62 percent

North America 14.6 52 24%

Western Europe 15.2 51 23%

India 18.4 50 18%

North East Asia 13.9 48 23%

Global average 11.4 41 24%

Latin America 7.9 35 28%

Sub-Saharan Africa 2.9 11 25%

5G is expected to be the fastest-deployed mobile

This is a time of incredible innovation With FET, we explore how

A Smartphone Lab study

Mobile data traffic grew

High-performance networks as the

Far EasTone (FET), Taiwan, is building AI enables a cost–performance

Figure 25: Taiwan regions

Figure 26: User average experienced speeds

Figure 27: FET’s NPS (4G+5G users)

Figure 28: Difference between FET´s 5G and 4G users NPS

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is undergoing a

04 T en years of the 24 Building 5G infrastructure Executive Editor: Patrik Cerwall