Are You Ready for the 5G Phenomenon?

5G connectivity is about to explode

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Unified Communications

Published: January 6, 2020

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

As the demand for mobility continues to grow, driven by trends like remote working, 5G could be a crucial battleground for businesses in the years to come. As we start 2020, it’s likely that 5G connectivity will become a more realistic solution for many smartphone and communication developers. This means that businesses everywhere will need to think about how 5G could transform the way that people communicate.

Already, the battleground for 5G is heating up, with around 190 million 5G ready to enter the hands and pockets of consumers this year, according to the International Data Corporation, or “IDC”. On top of that, one of the leaders in the mobility landscape, Ericsson Mobility has reported that they believe that 5G subscriptions will amount to more than 2.6 billion by the end of 2025.

Where Will The 5G Revolution Begin?

So, who’s going to be the first country to introduce the realities of 5G technology to its local community? The educated guess is going towards China at this point. In terms of volume, China certainly has a lot of opportunity to ship 5G to the masses. However, markets ranging from the UK to the US and Canada will all help to launch the transformation in mobile connectivity during 2020.

According to the Vice President of the IDC Worldwide Mobile Device Tracker environment, Ryan Reith, 5G prices are likely to come down rapidly. This will help more consumers to get involved in the market so that the segment can grow. By the time we reach 2025, 5G technology should be available to around 65% of the world’s population. What’s more, the connectivity will be handling about 45% of all global mobile data traffic.

Ericsson Mobility’s latest report also indicates that the annual shipments of devices already built with 5G technology will have reached around 13 million units by the end of 2019. However, this year will present a brand new world for the 5G market, with units reaching anywhere around 160 million.

Bringing 5G to the Telecoms Market

It’s not just the consumer space that can benefit from the rise of 5G either. According to the Business Insider 5G snapshot, Telecom companies across 18 countries are planning to roll out their own 5G networks by the end of last year alone. As companies and leaders around the world continue to recognise the benefits of 5G connectivity, the demand is growing everywhere. As a result, the 5G initiative now has support from almost every device maker out there, the world is being overtaken by the new generation of mobility.

If the current momentum and growth of the 5G landscape continues, then 5G subscription uptake is expected to be a lot faster than anything we saw with LTE. The most rapid uptake will be expected in North America. Currently, around 74% of mobile subscriptions in North America are expected to be in the 5G landscape by the end of 2025. North East Asia is expected to follow close behind at 56%, while Europe follows at 55%.

Part of this rapid growth of 5G can be linked to the fact that more people in both businesses and the consumer world are consuming huge amounts of data every month. We consume an average of about 7.2GB a month right now, but by 2025, that number is expected to increase to 24GB. As 5G appears throughout the landscape, we’ll have more opportunities to consumer different kinds of information, ranging from high-quality video streaming, to virtual reality and more.

Building Smartphones for the 5G Landscape

Unsurprisingly, smartphones are at the heart of the development in the 5G environment at present, as they’re responsible for the majority of all mobile data traffic. Apparently, Apple even alerted its supply chain partners, telling them to expect more than 100 million orders for the new generation of iPhone with 5G connectivity, which is expected to become available in the later months of this year.

Reports on the current mobile marketplace indicate that Apple could definitely be one of the frontrunners in the 5G market when smartphones do begin to appear with this new functionality. However, Android vendors elsewhere in the landscape could help to push down the expense associated with new technology. IDC believe that there will be a huge number of announcements made about 5G products in the next 5-6 months or so.

Any business with its foot in the door of the 5G revolution has incredible opportunity ahead of it. We can’t wait to see what the future of 5G holds.

 

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