Over a billion people will be covered by 5G by the end of the year

Reported by CNET, 5G is rolling out faster than 4G or 3G before it. In fact, a report from Ericcson says that 5G coverage may reach over a billion people by the end of 2020.

According to the report, 5G is expected to cover 60% of the global population by 2026.

The world may be grappling with a widespread pandemic, but that's sure not slowing down 5G's rollout. The super-fast technology reached more customers this year than expected and will cover about 60% of the global population by 2026, according to a new report from Ericsson. That makes 5G the fastest deployed mobile network ever, the Swedish networking giant said.

Ericsson believes that there will be 218 million 5G subscriptions worldwide by the end of 2020 which Patrick Cerwall, head of strategic marketing insights at Ericsson, says will drive to upwards of 2.8 billion by 2025.

"5G coverage will be built out to the extent that 1 billion people will live in 5G coverage areas by the end of 2020 worldwide ... That's around 15% of the world's population." By 2026, that will soar to 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions. In June, Ericsson estimated there would be 2.8 billion 5G subscriptions by 2025.

While the 5G rollout was dampened by the pandemic, the launch of the iPhone 12 lineup brought 5G into the mainstream and propelled adoption for many new customers to the technology.

2020 was supposed to be the year 5G went mainstream. But the spread of the novel coronavirus caused doubts about how widely the technology would be used this year. Instead of slowing down 5G, the pandemic in some ways made it easier for carriers to expand their networks faster. In China, the government made 5G's rollout a priority, and Apple's entry into the 5G market with its iPhone 12 lineup is expected to boost the number of 5G phone users.

Apple has brought 5G to the iPhone for the first time with the iPhone 12 lineup. The phones support both sub-6GHz 5G and mmWave for models in the United States.