More than 1 billion people – 15% of the world’s population – will live in an area with 5G coverage by the end of 2020.

Also, 220 million global 5G subscriptions are expected by the end of this year.

In 2026, 60% of the world’s population will have 5G coverage access, with 5G subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5 billion. And four out of every 10 mobile subscriptions will be 5G at that time.

The latest edition of the “Ericsson Mobility Report” made the forecasts.

In Southeast Asia and Oceania, 5G is predicted to be the second most popular technology in 2026, only behind LTE, surpassing 380 million subscriptions and accounting for 32% of all mobile subscriptions.

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The total mobile data traffic continues to grow steadily here, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33% for the forecast period.

And growth in mobile data consumption has translated into more diversified and generous data plans from mobile operators across different geographies.

The second half of this year has seen several commercial 5G launches in South East Asia and Oceania, with live networks in Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand.

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Upcoming spectrum auctions planned for 2021 in countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Malaysia will bring more 5G deployments next year, the report said.

Ericsson Bangladesh Abdus Salam said, “Global 4G population coverage will be over 80% at the end of 2020 and is forecast to reach around 95% in 2026.”

“The commercial introduction of 5G in Bangladesh will strengthen the Digital Bangladesh initiative and allow communication service providers and the ICT industry in the country to thrive.”

Also, the Ericsson report highlights why 5G success will not be limited to coverage or subscription numbers alone saying: “Its value will also be determined by new use cases and applications, the first of which have already started to emerge.”

According to the new “Harnessing the 5G Consumer Potential” report from Ericsson ConsumerLab, the 5G consumer market could be worth $31 trillion by 2030 globally, with communications service providers (CSPs) earning $3.7 trillion of that total – a figure that could increase further as new adjacent digital services opportunities arise.  

In southeast Asia and Oceania, the report estimates that CSPs could earn $297 billion in 5G-enabled consumer revenues by 2030.