Due to the abrupt lockdown of offices, schools, and commercial locations during the Covid-19 outbreak, stc’s well-timed 5G service launch assisted it in serving its subscriber consumption of rapid data growth.

Although the numbers are small in comparison to other parts of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa is not falling behind in the race to 5G. From 2022 forward, significant volumes of 5G subscribers are projected, reaching 7% by 2026. By the end of 2021, 5G mobile subscribers will have surpassed 580 million, with around one million new subscriptions added everyday.

Since the introduction of Ericsson Cloud RAN at the end of last year, Ericsson has the capability to introduce a virtualized RAN solution across all deployment scenarios including existing footprints – known as ‘bluefield deployments’.

As one of the key economies in the GCC, the UAE is supporting the use and growth of technologies such as 5G in a region where mobile data consumption is the highest in the world. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, by end of 2020, GCC had the highest average monthly data traffic per smartphone in the world, exceeding 18GB.

5G brings customized mobile connectivity and added value services both for industrial organizations and mobile network operators (MNOs). Thanks to 5G capabilities, say increased bandwidth and low latency, organizations can develop new products, services, and most importantly, best practices, such as significant safety and efficiency in production floors, greater automation in industry 4.0, better proactive maintenance and much more.