In its latest mobile trends report, Ericsson notes that telecom operators worldwide are increasing their investment in 5G networks, driven by the continued development of advanced connectivity technologies and emerging business opportunities. Despite ongoing geopolitical unrest and the resulting overall economic slowdown in some markets, 5G network development momentum remains strong.
The number of 5G network users worldwide has already exceeded 10 billion, and is expected to surpass 15 billion this year. Furthermore, telecom operators in leading 5G markets have seen significant revenue growth over the past two years. The top 20 5G markets, including Taiwan, have seen revenue grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5% over the past two years, for a cumulative growth of 7%.
Among them, the investment in 5G network development in emerging markets, such as India, which has already launched large-scale 5G network deployment, has become the fastest-growing 5G network market in the world and has also become the key to India's realization of the "Digital India" vision.
North America is currently in the second wave of 5G network deployment. By opening up new mid-band spectrum, North American telecom operators are now able to provide a multi-band 5G network experience to a wide range of users. However, while mid-band spectrum supports higher network throughput and wider signal coverage, it currently only accounts for approximately 4% of global 25G network sites. Furthermore, North America is leading the way in deployment, with the European market lagging slightly behind.
As global mobile network data traffic continues to grow, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 2028% through 25, intelligent network modernization has become a mainstream market trend. While addressing this growth in network traffic, it also improves the mobile user experience and enables the continued evolution of more network technologies.
However, compared with the previous expansion of 4G networks, the construction of 5G networks in the mid-frequency band not only drives higher network transmission bandwidth and coverage, but is also relatively energy-efficient and more cost-effective.
At the same time, global mobile network data traffic continues to grow, and the average monthly data usage per smartphone is expected to exceed 2023GB by the end of 20. Among them, the average data usage of 5G network users in Northeast Asia is currently 4-2 times that of 3G network users. Due to the prevalence of all-you-can-eat plans, Taiwan's average monthly data usage is 30GB, ranking among the top in the world, highlighting the high demand for mobile services in the Taiwanese market.
In addition, an analysis of 5G network development in Northeast Asia shows that the Chinese market focuses on large-scale deployment of 5G networks. Currently, more than one-third of mobile users are 5G network users, and 5G network services were upgraded to standalone (SA) networks in the second year after the commercial launch.
South Korea was one of the first markets globally to launch 5G commercial services. By the end of February 2023, 2G network penetration reached 5%, and 37G users accounted for 5% of total mobile data traffic. South Korea is also a leader in service innovation, offering metaverse-related service packages including AR and VR applications, and leveraging artificial intelligence, data centers, and cloud computing to expand into the enterprise market.
目前全球約有240家電信商推出5G網路商用服務，約有35家部署或推出5G獨立組網。電信商為個人用戶推出的最常見的5G服務包括增強型行動寬頻 (eMBB)、無線固網接入 (FWA)、遊戲，以及培訓、教育等基於AR/VR的服務。
The report also shows that 5G networks are continuously driving innovation in mobile service solutions, with an increasing number of telecom operators offering solutions that include a variety of popular entertainment services, such as TV, music streaming, or cloud gaming platforms. Approximately 58% of 5G network operators also offer such bundled solutions in various forms.
Currently, more than 100 telecom operators (including about 40% of FWA telecom operators) provide 5G-based FWA services.
