Ericsson, the world's top supplier of wireless equipment, said on Monday it expects 150 million users to be on next-generation 5G networks five years from now, steering clear of an industry debate over whether network upgrades could start far earlier.<br />By contrast, rival mobile equipment maker Nokia said on Sunday the shift to "5G-ready" wireless networks could begin to ramp up as early as 2017, well ahead of any final agreement on formal 5G standards.<br />"5G will happen faster than expected.<br />This may surprise some of you," Nokia Chief Executive Rajeev Suri told an audience ahead of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.<br />The differing timeframes seen by Ericsson and Nokia in part reflect a semantic debate over what exactly 5G means and whether a lot of equipment necessary to operate new networks will be needed well ahead of standards being formalized.
