Ericsson Mobility Report

Ericsson Mobility Report

November 2022

Reducing environmental impact

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The scientific evidence is clear: Climate change is proceeding at an alarming rate.

Global warming needs to be limited to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, there is a need to halve global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero GHG emissions by 2050 at the latest. To contribute to this goal, a rapidly growing number of communications service providers and equipment vendors are committing to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions across their value chain by 2050 or earlier. The telecommunications sector has a key role to play in addressing global sustainability goals, by reducing its own emissions and enabling the digitalization of a range of services and industries. According to Ericsson research, the usage of ICT solutions in other sectors has the potential to reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2030.

One approach that reduces environmental impact, facilitating enterprises’ journeys to Net Zero, is dematerialization. ICT solutions have the potential to lessen the need for material usage by substituting physical products with digital products and services, within both the ICT and other sectors. In this edition, we share some enterprise decision-makers’ views on how ICT solutions and connectivity are enablers that facilitate their journey toward Net Zero. Augmented reality presents yet another significant opportunity for dematerialization, as use cases for both consumers and enterprises include substituting physical with virtual processes.

5G services have now been launched by 228 service providers, and over 700 5G smartphone models have been announced or launched commercially. We expect to approach 1 billion 5G users worldwide by the end of this year. Moreover, global mobile network data traffic is practically doubling every two years.

To reduce the environmental impact, the growing data traffic needs to be managed with smart network modernization, combined with a balanced approach to network performance and use of energy-saving functionality to break the trend of increasing energy usage in mobile networks. As described in this edition, 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, for example by implementing predictive-maintenance methods on site.

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Articles

Find out more about the industry’s development by exploring our new feature articles.

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Data and forecasts

Explore all our latest insights and forecasts, including mobile subscriptions outlook, mobile data traffic outlook and network coverage.

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Key figures

A summary of mobile subscription and traffic essentials, including our mobile data traffic growth and data traffic per smartphone.

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A closer look at South East Asia and Oceania

5G shows strong growth in South East Asia and Oceania. Find out how high the regional number of 5G mobile subscriptions is expected to reach in 2022 and beyond.

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Articles

With each edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, we include a number of feature articles, examining various aspects of the mobile industry. Explore the latest developments.

Network modernization – on the quest for Net Zero

Innovative mobile networks and ICT solutions are crucial in supporting both direct and indirect reduction of carbon emissions. Written in cooperation with e&.

Cooperation and collaboration: Building Finland’s next-generation public safety network

To protect society, critical situations demand cooperation, efficient organization and highly reliable communications between authorities. Written in cooperation with Erillisverkot, Finland.

Digitalization enables enterprises to reach Net Zero

Enterprise decision-makers view ICT as a facilitator of their journey toward Net Zero through dematerialization, mobile workplaces, and efficient, renewable and resilient energy supplies.

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Mobility Calculator

Explore the relationship between the usage of various app types and monthly traffic per subscription with our interactive tool.

Mobility Visualizer

Explore the forecast data that underpins the Ericsson Mobility Report in our interactive web application.