The Philippines is emerging as one of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) fastest-growing 5G markets, as demand for faster mobile internet and wireless broadband continues to grow, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report.
Ericsson said the Philippines posted one of the largest increases in 5G subscriptions in SEA and Oceania, contributing to the region’s expected growth from around 160 million 5G subscriptions in 2025 to about 670 million by 2031.
The report highlights the country’s growing role as telecom operators expand 5G coverage and introduce services beyond faster mobile speeds, including fixed wireless access (FWA), which delivers home internet using mobile networks instead of fiber cables.
For the Philippines, this presents an opportunity to connect communities where fiber infrastructure remains limited or too expensive to deploy. Ericsson said 5G FWA is becoming a key revenue opportunity for operators while helping close the country’s digital connectivity gap.
Globally, 71% of FWA service providers now offer the service over 5G, up from 57% a year ago, showing the biggest annual increase in four years. More than half also offer speed-based pricing plans, allowing operators to serve different customer segments while generating higher returns.
“What operators around the world have shown is that 5G can be both a growth engine and a monetization opportunity,” said Daniel Ode, head of Ericsson for Singapore, Brunei, Philippines. “Philippine operators can have confidence from those experiences — combining FWA and 5G Standalone to bridge the digital divide while building sustainable returns.”
Ericsson’s latest report also showed that global 5G subscriptions reached 3.1 billion during the first quarter of 2026 after adding 162 million new subscribers. The company expects that figure to more than double to 6.4 billion by the end of 2031.
Worldwide, about 390 telecom operators have launched commercial 5G services, with more than 90 already deploying 5G Standalone (SA), the latest version of the technology designed to support advanced applications with more reliable and flexible network performance.
Ericsson also noted that operators are increasingly offering services powered by 5G SA network slicing, which allows a single network to dedicate specific capacity to different users or applications. Commercial offerings increased from 65 in late 2025 to 84 this year, signaling wider adoption by service providers.
Another trend highlighted in the report is the rapid growth of data uploaded by users. Activities such as video calls, cloud backups, content creation, and AI-powered applications are driving upload traffic faster than downloads across most mobile networks.
Based on Ericsson’s measurements, 43 of 55 service providers recorded faster growth in upload traffic than download traffic, while 17 operators saw upload traffic grow at least 1.5 times faster. The company expects artificial intelligence applications to accelerate this trend further over the next five years.
“With the upcoming transition to physical AI, traffic patterns will fundamentally shift as we move from centralized models in data centers to distributed, autonomous AI agents embedded across our device vehicles and cities, commonly connected by 5G,” said Erik Ekudden, EMR publisher and CTO, Ericsson.
He also said that mobile networks are no longer only about providing best-effort connectivity, they are becoming critical, intelligent infrastructure that meets diverse application needs. Reflecting part of this shift is the continued rise in new commercial service offerings based on 5G standalone network slicing and the number of communications service providers deploying 5G SA.