The 5G future is imminent. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
5G is about to hit a major milestone. Telecom equipment maker Ericsson says in its latest mobility report that 1 billion wireless subscribers around the globe will be connected to 5G by the end of the year. That’s still far behind 4G, which grew to around 5 billion subscribers in 2022. But Ericsson predicts that 4G growth will peak at the end of the year, with 5G racing in to replace the reigning connectivity standard. While faster speeds are on the way for many of us, we’ll probably have to pay more for it, too.
In North America, where carriers have been declaring the supremacy of 5G for the past three years, around 35 percent of mobile subscribers will be on 5G at the end of 2022. The good news: mid-band 5G, aka the good stuff, now…