Latin America. 5G networks are approaching a critical mass of commercial network and subscriber deployments in the world, signaling that there will be a rapid upward curve of technology adoption over the next few years, according to 5G Americas, the wireless industry association and the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas.
According to data provided by Omdia, the world added 385.5 million 5G subscribers between Q4 2019 and Q4 2020, conquering a total of 401 million 5G connections in the world, and overcoming the challenges of a global pandemic and adverse economic winds. As of December 2020, the fifth generation of wireless ("5G") technology accelerated to three times the adoption rate of subscriber growth than 4G LTE, which required five full years to reach the same level of subscriber acceptance, representing a 2,500 percent subscriber increase in the past year. The number of 5G connections is projected to reach 619 million globally by the end of 2021.
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, said: "5G is in its early stages of developing its full potential, while the industry just marked the second inning of a nine-inning baseball game. In the second full year of commercial 5G availability, the industry went from having 15.4 million subscribers to 401 million. The adoption of 5G connections will accelerate significantly in the coming years."
Omdia projects that, by the end of 2025, global 5G connections will have reached 3.4 billion. Regionally, the number of connections is projected to stand at 451 million in North America and 167 million in the Caribbean and Latin America by the end of 2025.
From the point of view of commercial availability, another 105 5G networks were activated in the world in 2020, bringing the total number of 5G networks to 163. The number of commercial 5G networks is projected to reach 277 by the end of 2021, according to data from TeleGeography. The increasing availability of 5G-enabled devices also flourished; The Global Mobile Providers Association (GSA) notes that to date, there are 628 5G devices announced, of which 404 were commercially available at the end of February 2021.
In addition to 5G connections, 4G LTE connections also saw robust growth in 2020, beating year-end projections that pointed to 5.73 billion to reach a total of 6 billion connections. Of these, 499 million 4G LTE connections correspond to North America and 407 million to Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the regional breakdown, North America had 19.96 million 5G connections and 499 million LTE connections at the end of Q4 2020. For the region, this represents an annual 5G growth of 4098%, and a gain of more than 19.5 million 5G connections during the year. Meanwhile, 4G LTE added more than 22 million connections in 2020, constituting a growth of 4.7%.
In the early days of 5G in Latin America and the Caribbean alone, the region saw 6,340 new 5G subscriptions during 2020. In contrast, LTE continued its strong growth, culminating Q4 2020 with 407 million LTE subscriptions (13% year-on-year growth).
According to José Otero, Vice President for the Caribbean and Latin America of 5G Americas "Two elements can contribute to the proliferation of new commercial 5G networks in Latin America and the Caribbean. First, the increased availability of 5G-enabled devices, especially for fixed wireless services. Second, governments' efforts to accelerate the launch of 5G networks that include spectrum allocation processes, 5G incubator projects, spectrum auction announcements, and incentives to conduct 5G trials."
The number of networks using 4G and 5G technologies as of March 2021 is summarized as follows:
Worldwide:
5G: 163
LTE Advanced: 340
LTE: 678
North America:
5G: 10
LTE Advanced: 11
LTE: 20
Latin America and the Caribbean:
5G: 13
LTE Advanced: 48
LTE: 124
*Source: TeleGeography and 5G Americas
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