The number of fifth-generation (5G) net additions during the second quarter of 2021 has surpassed that of fourth-generation (4G) net additions, the latest Ericsson Mobility Report shows.
The number 5G subscriptions with a 5G-capable device expanded by 84-million during the quarter under review.
This lifted the total number of 5G subscriptions to 380-million as 176 communications service providers have launched commercial 5G services in recent years.
Comparitively, 4G subscriptions increased by 71-million to 4.8-billion, representing 59% of all mobile subscriptions, while WCDMA/HSPA subscriptions declined by 46-million, according to the second-quarter Ericsson Mobility Report.
GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions fell by 52-million during the quarter and other technologies decreased by about seven-million.
Overall, the total number of mobile subscriptions during the second quarter reached 8.1-billion after the net addition of 50-million subscriptions, with global mobile subscription penetration now at 103%. The number of unique mobile subscribers is about six-billion.
The Ericsson Mobility Report reveals that China had the most net additions, at 13-million, during the quarter under review, followed by Indonesia with five-million and the US with three-million.
The number of mobile broadband subscriptions grew by about 100-million in the second quarter to reach 6.8-billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 7%.
Meanwhile, mobile network data traffic grew 44%, reaching total monthly mobile network data traffic of 72EB, between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021.
Quarter-on-quarter, this represented a growth rate of 9%.
Over the long term, traffic growth is driven by both the rising number of smartphone subscriptions and an increasing average data volume per subscription, fuelled primarily by increased viewing of video content.
However, large differences remain the traffic levels between markets, regions and service providers.