(Yicai Global) Sept. 28 -- The number of 5G users will exceed 500 million worldwide by 2022, while the number of smartphone users will reach 6.8 billion, Zhao Juntao, president at Ericsson China Communications Co., said at the Information Communications Technology China 2017 Forum held on Sept. 27.

The number of mobile phone users will reach 8 billion globally by 2022, with the mobile video market growing 50 percent a year to become the primary source of traffic, said a report released by the Chinese subsidiary of Swedish telecom giant Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson [NASDAQ:ERIC] at the event.

By 2026 The ICT sector will derive USD1.23 trillion (CNY8.16 trillion) in revenues related to industrial upgrades based on 5G technology in eight major sectors, including transport, finance, energy and manufacturing, of which mobile operators will see USD582 billion (CNY3.86 trillion)

The number of 5G users in China will grow rapidly from 2025 onward to reach 428 million, representing the biggest market worldwide, said Stephen Y. Lo, partner at Ernst & Young Greater China.

China's three major mobile operators, China Mobile Ltd. [NYSE:CHL;HKG:0941], China United Network Communications Ltd. [SHA:600050], also known as China Unicom, and China Telecom Corp. Ltd. [NYSE:CHA;HKG:0728] are all making efforts to implement pilot 5G projects and aim to initiate large-scale commercialization of related networks by 2020.