An estimated 1.5 billion subscriptions will sign up for 5G by the end of 2024, says a report.

The key drivers for 5G deployment include increased network capacity, lower cost per gigabyte and new use-case requirements, Wuttichai Wutti-Udomlert, Ericsson Thailand vice president and head of network solutions, said yesterday.

The 5G service worldwide is being developed mainly on the spectrum range 3.4GHz to 3.7GHz, noted Jesada Sivaraks, Ericsson Thailand’s head of government and industry relations.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is expected to auction the 700MHz by the end of this year for telecom operators to offer the 5G service. It wants to see 5G take off in Thailand in 2020.

According to the Ericsson report, North America and Northeast Asia are expected to lead the 5G uptake.

In North America, 5G subscriptions are forecast to account for 55 per cent of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024.

In Northeast Asia, the corresponding forecast figure is above 43 per cent.In Western Europe, 5G is forecast to account for some 30 per cent of mobile subscriptions in the region by 2024.

In Southeast Asia and Oceania (excluding India and China), WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) and HSPA (high-speed packet access) still dominate wireless technology at 48 per cent of all subscriptions.

However, LTE (long-term evolution) wireless technology subscriptions grew by 70 per cent during 2018, with a 26 per cent share. This transformation is expected to continue to 2024 when LTE is projected to account for 63 per cent of all mobile subscriptions in the region.

Copyright:  The Nation/ Asia News network