Nigeria joins race to push global 5G subscription to 1b
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
MTN and Mafab will launch 5G in August to connect Nigeria with the global race for subscribers to this latest gizmo to jump from 620 million in the first quarter ended March (Q 1 2022) and surpass one billion in December.
Alongside that, more people are projected to enjoy 4G services in Nigeria and other Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries in 2022 as 4G connectivity drives increase in mobile data traffic, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report (June 2022).
4G migration rose 26 per cent in SSA in 2021 and is expected to do better in 2022, banking on telecom infrastructure growth in 2020-2021 spurred by the pandemic.
“Demand for mobile voice and data services continues to grow in the region. Investment in telecom infrastructure accelerated during 2020-2021 in the wake of COVID-19, including mobile coverage and fixed wireless access build-out, enabling service providers to address additional subscriber segments with mobile broadband.
“In 2021, the number of 4G subscriptions grew by 26 per cent, and strong growth is expected to continue during 2022,” the report said.
“Migration towards 4G devices continues to be an important driver for 4G subscription uptake, which in turn drives the growth of mobile data traffic. 3G mobile data traffic is still increasing, but the majority of traffic growth is expected to be in 4G.
“Over the forecast period, total mobile broadband subscriptions are predicted to increase, reaching 78 per cent of mobile subscriptions.”
The report said regulatory initiatives are being taken to make more spectrum available in key markets across Africa that would enable access to mobile services for more people, especially in rural areas.
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Growth in 5G subscriptions
The report said 5G subscriptions grew by 70 million in Q1 2022 to 620 million globally and will surpass one billion by the end of 2022.
North America and North East Asia have the highest 5G subscription penetration, followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and Western Europe.
Global 5G penetration is expected to reach 4.4 billion in 2027, the report added, per reporting by The PUNCH.
“Resilient networks are the foundation for continued digitalization of societies and industries,” said Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson Executive Vice President and Head of Business Area Networks.
“Continuous network modernisation and coverage build-out has led to several hundred million people becoming new mobile broadband subscribers every year.
“5G is scaling faster than any previous mobile generation and we expect 5G subscriptions to reach one billion by the end of 2022.
“In several regions, deployment of 5G standalone networks is also picking up pace, as communications service providers prepare for innovation to address the business opportunities beyond enhanced mobile broadband.
“A solid digital network infrastructure underpins enterprises’ digital transformation plans, and their new capabilities can be turned into new customer services.”
Global data traffic doubles
Jejdling said global mobile network data traffic has doubled in the past two years because of growth in smartphone usage, mobile broadband, and the digitalisation of societies and industries.
5G technologies play a key role in modernisation and providing multiples of capacity while becoming more energy efficient, he added.
The also shows
- There were about 8.2 billion mobile subscriptions in 2021
- This is estimated to reach 9.1 billion by 2027
- Unique mobile subscribers totalled 6.1 billion in 2021
- This is expected to reach 6.7 billion in 2022