5G: China will account for nearly 80 per cent of global subscriptions by end-2020, Ericsson says

China will account for nearly 80 per cent – or 175 million – of a projected 220 million global 5G subscriptions by the end of the year, according to a new report by Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson.

“We have increased our estimate for the number of 5G subscriptions at the end of 2020 … mainly due to a faster uptake in China than previously expected, driven by a national strategic focus, intense competition between service providers and more affordable 5G smartphones from several vendors,” the company said in the November 2020 Ericsson Mobility Report released on Monday.

China’s rapid growth in 5G – with subscriptions reaching 11 per cent of its total mobile subscription base, according to Ericsson – comes at a time when the country is battling the US for global dominance in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G and Internet of Things (IoT), all considered key components for achieving competitiveness in the new economy.

The proportion of 5G subscriptions in North America and Europe is expected to be about 4 per cent and 1 per cent of all mobile subscriptions in these regions respectively by the end of the year, Ericsson said.

The next-generation network is considered a fundamental element of China’s new digital infrastructure, aimed at driving greater connectivity for consumers and businesses, and has been billed as a fundamental technology to transform industries from manufacturing and mining to health care and education.

“The value of [5G] applications is many times greater than the network itself,” an Ericsson spokesperson said. “China understands this and is driving the development of applications across industries.”