According to a study by smartphone industry research group GSMA Intelligence (GSMAi) 5G connections are expected to represent 51 percent of mobile connections by 2029, and to reach 56 percent by the end of the decade.
Testing services company are working hard to update their services and test equipment to accommodate the next generation of 5G networks and devices.
So far, however, 5G has been relatively slow to take-off. According to Statista, in 2022 4G technology accounted for 60 percent of all mobile connections in 2022, with 5G technology accounting for just 12 percent.
Even so, 5G is growing, surpassing one billion connections by the end of 2022, rising to 1.6 billion connections at the end of 2023, GSMAi reported.
According to GSMAi’s study, as of January 2024, 261 operators in 101 countries had launched commercial 5G services, and more than 90 operators from 64 markets have committed to rollouts.
GSMAi noted that of the 261 commercial 5G services available, 47 are provided by 5G Standalone (SA) networks, with a further 89 planned deployments near-term “that will take advantage of network slicing, ultra-reliable low-latency communications support and the simplified 5G SA network architecture.”
GSMAi, whose report was published to coincide with the Mobile World Congress event happening in Barcelona this week, which GSMA also organize, said the growth in available 5G SA networks would help boost the connectivity of IoT networks in the business sector, which now counts 10.7 billion IoT connections (versus 10.5 billion consumer connections).
GSMAi is also predicting a fourfold rise in mobile data traffic between now and 2030 (growing from 12.8 GB in 2023 to 47.9 GB), helped by expansions in 5G coverage and capacity.
Peter Jarich, head of GSMAi, said: “The early success of 5G was driven by enhanced mobile broadband (EMBB) and EMBB-related network traffic requirements. Yet, while consumer requirements will continue their trajectory, we’re now seeing use cases beyond that.
“Opportunities are now appearing in areas including API monetisation and 5G RedCap for enterprise IoT – all supported by 5G-Advanced and 5G SA networks. 5G SA brings home 5G’s early promise, particularly where slicing, low-latency and massive IoT capabilities tied to enterprise service needs can be met. 5G-Advanced will only extend that further.”