Mobile calling declines as 5G accounts for 14% of subscriptions

The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (Post & Telestyrelsen, PTS) says that the number of voice calls made via the country’s mobile networks decreased for the first time in 2022. In its annual market report the regulator said call minutes were down 6% at 39 billion minutes, equating to around 250 minutes per subscription per month. It said the drop could be due to some voice calls moving to other communication apps, while there could also be a balancing factor after increased usage during COVID-enforced lockdowns in the previous two years.

At the end of 2022 just over two million Swedes were using 5G services, up from 720,000 a year before, representing 14% of all mobile subscriptions. Mobile data traffic increased by almost 30% in 2022; overall data traffic in mobile networks has tripled in the last four years.