5G networks in the short term
At the moment there are several limitations with the 5G networks. The first and most obvious is that there is no coverage everywhere. For example in Spain, there are only in large cities and depending on the operator. But also, it should be mentioned that not all phone companies have this option. For now, in Spain, we cannot contract it in Low Cost calls.
This that we mentioned, together with the fact that there are still many mobiles that are not compatible with 5G, makes the number of users not be as high as we might expect. Now, how will you advance these next few months? We can extrapolate what we mentioned about Spain to the rest of the world, where there are even many countries without a single 5G line. According to the Ericsson report, by the end of 2022 we will reach 1 billion users with 5G.
But this figure is still low if we compare it with the large number of lines that exist globally. In Spain, for example, the main telephone companies have a route plan to bring 5G coverage to more cities over the next 6 months. It will undoubtedly represent a significant leap, but it is still insufficient to be able to say that 5G is widely used.
We will have to wait several years
What market share Can we say that it would be the correct one to talk about the widespread use of 5G? There is a lot of debate there, but we believe that it should at least exceed 4G in use. For that there is still, since the coverage is still very limited and there are years left to stop using the previous network. But not only the coverage, but also the compatibility of the devices.
This same ericsson report indicates that by 2027 it is expected that 90% of North American users will have coverage and terminals compatible with 5G. It will be the region in the world with the greatest access to this technology, at least according to forecasts. By the same date, Europe will reach 82%. In the case of Northeast Asia they will have over 74%.
But that low global figure notably. There are many countries where it has not yet arrived and the process is going to be much slower. The Ericsson report indicates that by 2027, 50% of mobile subscriptions are expected to be 5G. A far cry from the 90% and 82% we’ve seen for North America and Europe, respectively.
Is 5G growing less than expected? The truth is that no. In fact, according to the Ericsson report, it is growing faster (and forecasts improve it) compared to its predecessor, 4G.
Without a doubt, 5G will bring important improvements and will mean a leap in quality in mobile connections. Especially in the face of the Internet of Things, it is a long-awaited technology and will contribute a lot. There is still time for it to be really widespread, but the first striking figure, that of reaching 1,000 million worldwide, seems to be just a few months away.
