South Korea was tipped to hit a million 5G subscribers by the end of this week, Yonhap News Agency reported, reaching the milestone just over two months after launch.

The country was one of the contenders vying for the title of hosting the first live commercial 5G network alongside the US, with operators in both releasing services during the first week of April.

Industry sources at the news agency said uptake of the new technology in South Korea had been driven by strong demand for the “latest gadgets” and aggressive promotions.

At the start of May South Korea’s government said 260,000 consumers had already signed-up, with the figure reportedly rising to over 800,000 by 5 June and topping 900,000 days later. Numbers rising at the same rate would put uptake at over 1 million by the end of this week.

In late May operator executives said consumers of the new network technology were recording much higher data usage than 4G users.

Strong consumer appetite for 5G services in South Korea fits with an optimistic prediction for uptake of the technology released by Ericsson earlier today.