The number of 5G connections around the world is expected to increase dramatically as the technology becomes more and more integrated into our daily lives, according to reports. New figures from the Juniper Research project that the total number of 5G connections will reach 3.200 billion by 2026, a significant increase from the currently estimated 310 million. Along with the expected growth of 5G phones and other mobile devices, the increase in connections is expected to be driven by a number of use cases, with remote healthcare and mobile gaming expected to see particularly high growth.
5G growth
The report notes that the Asia-Pacific region will account for a significant part of this growth, with the area expected to account for around 60% of global 5G connections, or two billion, by 2026. "Operators in China, Japan and South Korea have implemented lower subscription costs, which has accelerated 5G adoption, allowing these subscribers to explore new services that require 5G connectivity," said Dave Bowie, co-author of the report. Juniper Research notes that this enormous growth will require a significant increase in spending by operators around the world on 5G infrastructure. In particular, standalone 5G networks are expected to generate a lot of interest as operators look to better position their services to handle expected increases in future capacity. The report notes that the use of network orchestration tools, which allow operators to use artificial intelligence analysis of their traffic and adapt network conditions accordingly, will be vital, providing more bandwidth to operators, connections that need it most, while maintaining strong service performance. As average 5G smartphone revenues decline in the coming years due to market saturation, with Juniper forecasting a drop from €29 today to €17 by 2026, network orchestration tools will have another key role to play. , allowing operators to maintain the highest speed. in your network. and the lowest latency for the connections that require it. Maintaining this level of service and network speed would allow operators to justify maintaining their high prices in order to maintain their profitability.