Ericsson has released its Mobility Report wherein they forecast that global fixed wireless access (FWA) connections are going to grow faster than previously expected.
In the report, Ericsson published region-specific factors that impact subscription adoption patterns.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Despite economic challenges, the Sub-Saharan Africa region’s economy is projected to be one of the fastest growing regions globally, sustaining growth in the telecom industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic becoming a lesser concern, network investments are shifting focus from reliable connectivity for social and economic sustenance, to increasing coverage and capacity, especially for mobile broadband connections.
2G connections are still accounting for about half of the total subscriptions but these are projected to decline as service providers migrate subscribers from legacy to 4G and 5G networks. 4G will be the main contributor to new connections up to 2028, accounting for more than half of all mobile subscriptions at that time.
Despite its early stage, the 5G journey has begun in Sub-Saharan Africa in the more mature markets such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. 5G subscriptions are projected to constitute around 14 percent of all mobile subscriptions by the end of 2028.
Middle East and North Africa
Service providers’ investment in 4G is expected to result in over 60 percent of subscriptions in the region being 4G in Similarly to Sub-Saharan Africa, service providers are migrating their subscribers from legacy networks, and the growth in 4G and 5G will continue at pace. 5G is forecast to be the strongest-growing segment as service providers explore various service offerings requiring high bandwidth and low latency.
Additionally, availability of a wide range of 5G devices at attractive price points will drive uptake of 5G subscriptions. By the end of 2028, there will be around 270 million 5G subscriptions forecast in the region, accounting for 31 percent of total mobile subscriptions.
Mobile financial services continue to gain momentum as mobile connectivity rises, with service providers extending their propositions from basic transfers and merchant payments to remittances, insurance and other more sophisticated services. An additional driver for growth has been a decisive shift to digital payments in many markets as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Communications Service providers continue to deploy 5G and the momentum for Fixed Wireless Access is accelerating. Moreover, global mobile network data traffic is practically doubling every two years. As described in this edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, service providers are taking actions to deploy the latest generation of energy-efficient radio hardware and software, increase the use of renewable energy sources, and operate site infrastructure intelligently to reduce the environmental impact.
Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks, Ericsson
