MWC 2019: 5G set to cover 15% of global mobile connections by 2025
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 25 February 2019

The 2019 global edition of the flagship Mobile Economy report series from mobile operators’ trade body the GSMA is predicting that the number of 5G connections will reach 1.4 billion by 2025, 15% of the global total.

The study found that following on from the first 5G launches in South Korea and the US in 2018, a further 16 major markets worldwide will switch on commercial 5G networks this year. Moreover, of the trends forecast going out to 2025 are realised, 5G will account for around 30% of connections in markets such as China and Europe, and around half of the total in the US. More than 700 million new subscribers are forecast to be added over the next seven years, about a quarter of these coming from India alone.

The report calculates that mobile operators worldwide are currently making capital investments of around $160 billion per year on expanding and upgrading their networks, despite regulatory and competitive pressures.

“The arrival of 5G forms a major part of the world’s move towards an era of Intelligent Connectivity, which alongside developments in the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence, is poised to be a key driver of economic growth over the coming years,” said Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA, opening the leading comms event in Barcelona and commenting on the Mobile Economy report.

“While 5G will transform businesses and provide an array of exciting new services, mobile technology is also helping to close the connectivity gap. We will connect more than a billion new people to the mobile internet over the next few years, spurring adoption of mobile-based tools and solutions in areas such as agriculture, education and healthcare, which will improve livelihoods of people around the world.”