China will be the first market in the world to reach 1 billion 5G subscribers by 2025

Currently, China's 5G network construction is at a mid-stage of development, with commercial 5G adoption expected to drive investment and consumer spending. In the long term, 5G will usher in the next chapter of the digital economy, where new communications and data infrastructure will not only stimulate data consumption but also become the main channel for information exchange.

GSMA said that China is the country with the largest number of 5G base stations in the world, with more than 2.3 million 5G base stations installed by the end of 2022, of which in 2022 alone, the country installed about 887,000 stations.

In 2022, mobile technologies and services generated 5.5% of China's GDP, contributing up to $1.1 trillion in economic value added. By 2030, the number of 5G subscribers in China is expected to reach 1.6 billion, and the technology will add $290 billion to the Chinese economy, according to the report.

China is expected to reach 1 billion 5G subscribers by 2025. Illustration photo

Mainland China is the world's largest 5G market, accounting for more than 60% of global 5G connections by the end of 2022, according to the report. 5G will surpass 4G to become the dominant mobile technology in China by 2024. The dominance of 4G and 5G in China also means that older mobile networks such as 2G and 3G are being phased out in the market.

Although most Chinese mobile users have migrated to 4G and 5G, 2G and 3G mobile networks continue to support various Internet of Things (IoT) services. However, many forecasts suggest that 2G and 3G mobile networks could be almost completely shut down in China by 2025.

GSMA data also shows that by the end of 2023, 5G will account for nearly 45% while 4G will account for nearly 55% of all mobile subscribers in the country. It is forecasted that by 2030, 5G will account for 88% of mobile subscribers in China, while 4G technology will account for the remaining 12%.

“Mobile operators in China will spend $291 billion on building and developing their networks between 2023 and 2030, with the majority of this going towards 5G. After the massive 5G network buildout over the past few years, which has led to record investment intensity in China, total investment expenditure will start to trend downward in the coming years as mobile operators focus on generating a return on investment,” the GSMA report added.

According to the latest statistics from Chinese mobile operators, in February, Chinese mobile operators recorded a net increase of 25.76 million 5G subscribers.

Among them, China Mobile, China's largest mobile operator and also the world's largest mobile operator by number of subscribers, added a total of 16.6 million 5G subscribers in February, bringing the total number of 5G subscribers of this network to 639.1 million.

Meanwhile, China's second-largest mobile operator, China Telecom, added 5.19 million 5G subscribers in February, bringing its total 5G subscribers to 278.18 million. In 2022, the mobile operator added a total of 80.16 million 5G subscribers.

China's third-largest mobile operator China Unicom said it added a total of 3.97 million 5G subscribers in February, bringing its total 5G subscribers to 219.76 million.

On a global scale, the forecast of the global market research company IHS Markit (UK) shows that the 5G network is expected to generate about 13.1 trillion USD in revenue for the global economy and more than 22.3 million new jobs by 2035. Of which, the 5 areas assessed to be most affected by 5G technology are healthcare, smart utilities, consumer and media, industrial manufacturing and financial services.

According tohttps://www.rcrwireless.com/20230327/5g/china-reach-1-billion-5g-subscribers-2025-gsma