Sweden’s Ericsson raises forecast for global 5G subscriptions to 2.8 billion by 2025
- The Swedish telecoms equipment maker raised its forecast because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made more people work remotely
- Ericsson and Finnish rival Nokia compete worldwide against China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp
Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson on Monday raised its forecast for 5G subscriptions globally to around 2.8 billion by 2025, from 2.6 billion previously, as a consequence of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The telecoms sector has been among the few industries to experience a surge in demand amid the economic uncertainty linked to the pandemic, a result of more people working remotely from home to avoid contagion and adhere to lockdown rules.
Patrik Cerwall, head of strategic marketing at Ericsson, said that the 2020 forecast would also be raised, but gave no further detail. “Long-term we look at 2025, 2.8 billion 5G subscriptions”, he told a web seminar held by the company.
Ericsson and Finnish rival Nokia compete worldwide against China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp in signing up telecoms network operators looking to upgrade their wireless infrastructure to 5G.
Stockholm-based Ericsson, which is expected to publish its biannual Mobility Report next month, said in November that 5G uptake would be significantly faster than that of 4G, and that 5G subscriptions would account for 29 per cent of all mobile network users in 2025.
5G, the next-generation mobile technology being rolled out by telecoms carriers, provide faster data speeds and better accommodate a greater variety of connected devices.