The drive to make 5G a reality has led to a surge in demand for tower climbers
Fifth-generation cellular wireless — better known as 5G — is beginning to come to life, with launches from major carriers like Verizon and AT&T . The technology, which promises increased speed and capacity for greater connectivity, is expected to fully take shape in the years to come.

Today, information communication technology giant Ericsson is putting the infrastructure in place that is needed to make 5G a reality, and cell tower climbers like Jordan Robinson are in high demand to lay the groundwork.

"I help you have cell service in hard-to-reach places," Robinson, a tower technician associate and Marine Corps veteran said. "Tower climbing is fun — you get to see miles and miles, just forest. Or you think you're in the middle of nowhere and climb 200 feet in the air, and there's a whole town not five minutes away. I like enjoying the views."

Ericsson currently has some 350,000 towers across the U.S. already in place, and the company is expecting to grow that number to 1 million in the next four years as it partners with the major U.S. carriers for 5G nationwide.

"Tower climbers are really the backbone behind the network. They climb infrastructures, whether its rooftops or major towers, and they actually assemble and construct the equipment on top of these cell towers that we all use every day," said Kevin Zvokel, head of networks at Ericsson North America.

Ericsson said global mobile data traffic is expected to grow eight times by the end of 2023, so there's a real need for more efficient technologies. The company predicts that by 2023, 20% of the global population will be covered by 5G, with 1 billion 5G subscriptions, 9 billion mobile subscriptions, and 20 billion connected internet of things devices.

Experts and industry advocates said 5G has the power to transform much more than just the technology space.

Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell told CNBC earlier this week that he is "giddy with excitement" about 5G and its capability to move data hundreds or thousands of times faster.