90% of Mobile Subscriptions in 2025 Will Use Mobile Broadband

In 2025, 90 percent of subscriptions are projected to be for mobile broadband, Ericsson predicts. 

This is a slightly lower share than previously forecast, due to a slower decline for 2G (GSM/EDGE-only) subscriptions in the Middle East and Africa region. 

The number of unique mobile subscribers is projected to reach 6.3 billion by the end of the forecast period. Subscriptions associated with smartphones account for around 70 percent of all mobile phone subscriptions. 

It is estimated there will be 5.6 billion smartphone subscriptions by the end of 2019. The number of smartphone subscriptions is forecast to reach 7.4 billion in 2025, or 83 percent of all mobile subscriptions. 

Subscriptions for fixed broadband are expected to show limited growth of around two percent per year through 2025.