KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — The 5G network would become the leading technology in South-east Asia (SEA) by 2028 with a penetration rate of 48 per cent, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.

The 5G subscriptions in the region is projected to reach almost 30 million in 2022 and around 620 million by end-2028.

Head of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh David Hagerbro said the rapid rollout of the 5G network by Digital Nasional Bhd in Malaysia would accelerate the country’s journey towards becoming digital economy and a 5G leader in the region.

The report said most major service providers are expected to launch commercial 5G services by the end of 2028 in SEA and Oceania.

"5G adoption and growing consumer usage of new immersive services are key factors for growing mobile data usage in the region.

"Mobile traffic per smartphone is expected to grow from 12.5 gigabyte (GB) per month in 2022 to 54 GB per month in 2028, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 30 per cent,” it said.

On wider perspectives, the report said global 5G subscriptions remained on track to top one billion by the end of this year and five billion by the end of 2028 despite current and developing economic challenges in many parts of the world.

According to the report, about 110 million subscriptions were added globally between July 2022 to September 2022, bringing the total to about 870 million.

"5G is still expected to reach one billion subscriptions by the end of this year, two years faster than 4G did, following its launch.

"The statistic reinforces 5G as the fastest-scaling mobile connectivity generation. Key drivers include the timely availability of devices from multiple vendors with prices falling faster than for 4G and China’s large early 5G deployments,” it said.

Globally, it said almost 230 communications service providers (CSPs) have launched 5G services to date with more than 700 5G smartphone models announced or launched commercially.

It said global 5G subscriptions are forecast to account for 55 per cent of all subscriptions by the end of 2028.

The report said in that same timeframe, 5G population coverage is projected to reach 85 per cent while 5G networks are expected to carry around 70 per cent of mobile traffic and account for all contemporary traffic growth.

Additionally, it said global fixed wireless access (FWA) connections are forecast to grow at 19 per cent year-on-year through 2022-2028 and top 300 million connections by the end of 2028 driven by accelerated FWA plans in India and expected growth in other emerging markets.

It said more than three-quarters of CSPs surveyed in more than 100 countries currently offer FWA services, which saw almost one-third of CSPs offering FWA over 5G compared to one-fifth a year ago.

It added that almost 40 per cent of the new 5G FWA launches in the past 12 months have been in emerging markets

FWA is a wireless alternative to wireline broadband connectivity for homes and businesses and it is one of the major early 5G use cases, particularly in regions with unserved or underserved broadband markets. — Bernama