The 5G network will support more than 10% of global mobile connections by 2023, according to the Cisco Annual Internet Report. It suggests more dynamic mobile infrastructures for artificial intelligence and emerging Internet of Things applications, including autonomous cars, smart cities, digital healthcare systems, 360-degree video technology, and more.
These advanced performance capabilities will be supported by average speeds of 575 megabites per second (Mbps).
The average global mobile connection speed will increase by more than 13-fold from 13 Mbps in 2018 to 44 Mbps in 2023, while the average global Wi-Fi connection speed will triple from 30 Mbps to 92 Mbps. The global average fixed broadband connection speed will also increase by more than twofold from 46 Mbps to 110 Mbps.
In the Middle East and Africa, the average fixed broadband connection speed will increase to 41.2 Mbps in 2023, from 9.7 Mbps in 2018, according to the report. Average mobile connection speed in the region will increase to 24.8 Mbps, compared to 6.9 Mbps in 2018, a 3.6 times growth.
Social networks, video services, downloads, business production, e-commerce, and games are constantly growing, which contributes to the growth of mobile applications, the report said. Nearly 300bn applications will be downloaded by 2023.
The report covered mobile, Wifi, and fixed broadband networking with quantitative projections on the growth of users, devices, and connections, as well as network performance between 2018 and 2023.
By 2023, the report said, more than 70% of the world’s population (5.7 billion people) will have mobile connectivity whether 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G, and 66% of the global population will be internet users.
In the Middle East and Africa, internet users will reach 35% of the region’s population, by 2023, equivilant to 611 million people – up from 24%, equivilant to 381 million people in 2018. Mobile phone users will also increase to 57% of the region’s population by 2023, equivilant to one billion people – compared to 53% in 2018, equivilant to 827 million.
On a global level, the report said device ownership will rise to 3.6 networked devices/connections per person and nearly 10 devices and connections per household, with almost 47% of these video-capable.
Moreover, machine-to-machine connections, that support a wide range of IoT applications, will represent about 50% (14.7bn) of total global devices and connections.
In the Middle East and Africa, the average connected devices will reach 2.6bn by 2023, compared to 1.7bn in 2018.
The report predicted that 45% of all devices will have mobile connectivity whether 3G, 4G, 5G, or low-power wide-area network by 2023, and 55% of devices will have wire or Wi-Fi connectivity. The 5G will represent 10.6% of total mobile connectivity.
In the Middle East and Africa, 75% of devices will have mobile connectivity, and 25% will have wire or Wi-Fi connectivity.
In addition, the number of global Wi-Fi hotspots will increase fourfold from 2018 to 2023. There will be approximately 628m public Wi-Fi hotspots globally, up from 169m in 2018.
The Cisco Internet Annual Report assesses digital transformation on global, regional, and national levels.
It includes forecasts of the growth rates of internet users, devices, and connection speeds, in addition to network performance and new application requirements. The report also provides analysis and assessments in four strategic areas: applications, security, infrastructure transformation, and employee and team empowerment.
