According to a new report, 5G standalone (5G SA) deployments have driven considerable growth in the number of communications service providers (CSPs) offering differentiated connectivity commercial models based on 5G SA Network Slicing.

In network slicing, CSPs guarantee quality of service for customer use cases through the allocation of slices of the network.

The 2025 Ericsson Mobility Report shows that, as of November, more than 90 CSPs had launched/soft-launched 5G SA networks. This number represents a 33% increase from the same period last year.

There are 118 cases — across 56 CSPs — where network slicing provides differentiated connectivity services. A little more than half (65) of those cases have advanced from proof-of-concept into actual use across 33 CSPs. About one-third (21) of those offerings were launched this year.

Other findings from the Ericsson Mobility Report include:

• By the end of 2025, 5G subscriptions will reach a total of 2.9 billion, which accounts for one third of all global mobile subscriptions.
• Future-ready tech — particularly artificial intelligence (AI)-driven devices like smart glasses and autonomous vehicles — are set to drive uplink data demands and revolutionize use cases for consumers and enterprises

“We see that service providers around the world are keen to embrace and deploy 5G SA to offer differentiated connectivity based on value services and not just data volume packages,” EMR publisher and Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden, said in a prepared statement about the company’s 5G SA report.

“As reflected in the case studies in this EMR edition, 5G SA is already enabling differentiated connectivity opportunities. We’ve seen many service providers go from proof-of-concept to commercial deployment in 2025 alone, and we expect to see that trend continuing.”