The 5G era has arrived, but 4G still dominates

Currently, 5G has been launched in 24 markets around the world and is supported by an increasing number of devices. Its awareness among consumers is also increasing. According to relevant reports, as of January 30, 2020, 46 operators in 24 markets had launched commercial 5G networks. By 2025, one in five mobile connections is expected to run on 5G networks.

According to relevant personnel: “In the next few years, investment by global mobile operators is expected to exceed US$1 trillion, focusing on deploying advanced networks to provide services to consumers and enterprise customers. In the past 12 months, we have seen The 5G ‘hype’ has become reality: millions of consumers are already switching to 5G, and enterprises are embracing 5G-enabled network slicing, edge computing and low-latency services.”

The new report shows:

The 5G era has arrived, but 4G still dominates. Last year, 4G was the world’s dominant mobile technology, powering more than half (52%) of global connections. Despite the emergence of 5G, 4G will continue to grow over the next few years, reaching 56% of connections by 2025.

Half of the world’s population is connected to the mobile internet. Nearly half of the global population (3.8 billion people) are now mobile internet users, and this is expected to reach 61% (5 billion people) by 2025.

Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous and are expected to account for four out of five connections by 2025, up from 65% in 2019.

User growth is slowing. At the end of last year, the number of mobile users reached 5.2 billion (67% of the total population) and is expected to grow to 5.8 billion (70%) by 2025.

The Internet of Things will become an integral part of the 5G era. Between 2019 and 2025, the number of global IoT connections will more than double to nearly 25 billion, while global IoT revenue will more than triple to $1.1 trillion.

The industry is investing heavily in 5G, and global mobile operators are expected to spend US$1.1 trillion on mobile capital from 2020 to 2025, about 80% of which will be used on 5G networks.

Mobile technology accounted for 4.7% of GDP internationally last year and contributed $4.1 trillion in economic value. This number is expected to grow to $4.9 trillion (4.9% of GDP) by 2024, as countries around the world stand to benefit from increased productivity and efficiency as mobile services become more widespread. The mobile ecosystem also supported more than 30 million jobs (direct and indirect) in 2019. It provides significant funding to the public sector, contributing $490 billion to general tax revenue.

It is expected that 5G will contribute US$2.2 trillion to the global economy by 2034, with key industries such as manufacturing, utilities, and financial services benefiting the most from this new technology.