Ericsson: 5G Mobile Subscriptions to Hit 150 Million by 2021

Launched today, the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report provides insight into the future of 5G networks, including a forecast of 150 million 5G mobile subscriptions by 2021. South Korea, Japan, China and the US are predicted to lead with the first, and fastest, 5G subscription uptake.

READ: Ericsson Mobility Report (November 2015)

5G will connect new types of devices, enabling new use cases related to the Internet of Things (IoT); the transition will open up new industries and verticals to ICT transformation.

The report, a comprehensive update on mobile trends, reveals a significant increase in mobile video consumption, which is driving around six times higher traffic volumes per smartphone in North America and Europe (2015 to 2021). North America data traffic per active smartphone will grow from 3.8 to 22 GB per month by 2021; in Western Europe, the increase is from 2 to 18 GB per month.

With 20 new mobile broadband subscriptions activated every second, global increase in mobile subscriptions is another clear driver for data traffic growth. As of now, there are the same amount of mobile subscriptions as there are people on the planet; in 2016 we will reach the four billion mark for smartphone subscriptions alone.

Rima Qureshi, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Ericsson, says: “5G is about more than faster mobile services – it will enable new use cases related to the Internet of Things. For example, Ericsson has built a prototype testbed for applying 5G networking functions and data analytics to public transport, which can save resources, reduce congestion, and lower environmental impact. ICT transformation will become even more common across industries as 5G moves from vision to reality in the coming years.”

Other highlights from the latest Ericsson Mobility Report include:

Video dominates data traffic: Global mobile data traffic is forecast to grow ten-fold by 2021, and video is forecast to account for 70 percent of total mobile traffic in the same year. In many networks today, YouTube accounts for up to 70 percent of all video traffic, while Netflix’s share of video traffic can reach as high as 20 percent in markets where it is available.

Mainland China overtakes the US as world’s largest LTE market: By the end of 2015, Mainland China will have 350 million LTE subscriptions – nearly 35 percent of the world’s total LTE subscriptions. The market is predicted to have 1.2 billion LTE subscriptions by 2021.

Africa becomes an increasingly connected continent: Five years ago (2010) there were 500 million mobile subscriptions across Africa; by the end of 2015 this number will double to 1 billion. Increased connectivity improves the prospect of financial inclusion for the 70 percent unbanked through mobile money services starting to take form across Africa.

New to the report is the Mobile Business Trends appendix. The appendix outlines eight trends that detail how successful mobile operators are using different ways to monetize the explosion in data consumption and growing demand for mobile services.

ABI Research Names Ericsson Video Middleware Market Leader
ABI Research has named Ericsson in their recent competitive assessment covering Middleware, Conditional Access, and DRM. ABI Research recognizes Ericsson’s strong portfolio of IPTV solutions, its strategy of continued investment, its adaptive bitrate technologies and mobile network integration of video as key differentiators that keep Ericsson TV middleware at the leading edge of the technology curve.

Ericsson’s video middleware solutions Ericsson Mediaroom, Mediaroom Reach and MediaFirst are part of Ericsson’s broader end-to-end TV and media product portfolio that spans the entire media value chain. In the report, ABI Research envisions that as Ericsson TV middleware extends and is deeply integrated with the company’s end-to-end TV and media portfolio including encoding, cloud DVR and content delivery, Ericsson will further increase its value as a global middleware leader. ABI Research also points to strengthened customer integration capabilities as another development that will benefit the customers moving forward.

Sam Rosen, Vice President of ABI Research said: “Ericsson video middleware solutions are well architected, enabling TV service providers to offer their customers innovative viewing experiences while also optimizing for costs and operational efficiency. The strength of Ericsson’s TV middleware offerings along with potential for deep integration with Ericsson’s broader TV and media solutions portfolio makes Ericsson a leading-edge company in the TV and media industry.”

The ABI Research report also heralds Ericsson’s focus on developing video oriented systems which take advantage of the cloud, focusing in particular on Ericsson MediaFirst. Although the platform is still in the process of coming to market, ABI Research believes that Ericsson’s approach is very strong and headed in the right direction.

Elisabetta Romano, Head of TV and Media, Ericsson said: “TV is undergoing a major transformation. Ericsson’s unique combination of research-based insights, award winning product portfolio and global services equips us as the ultimate partner to help TV service providers navigate this period of widespread change. This ranking from ABI Research is a positive reflection of Ericsson’s strategy of continuous investment in TV and media to equip our customers with market leading solutions that deliver the highest quality viewing experiences.”

Ericsson Mediaroom, the most deployed IPTV platform globally, enables operators to deliver high quality and engaging live, video on demand and time-shifted television experiences. Ericsson Mediaroom Reach extends television experiences to all screens, and Ericsson MediaFirst, a next-generation cloud-based Pay TV platform delivers constantly optimizing, device agnostic and highly personalized TV experiences.

Uniquely placed at the convergence of telecommunications, the Internet and media, Ericsson powers some of the world’s largest and most complex video platforms, and helps the world’s strongest content brands to deliver personalized, high-quality programming to consumers 24/7. Ericsson’s products, services and insights enable broadcasters, content creators and content owners across cable, satellite and telecoms to accelerate their transformation towards TV in the Networked Society.