Latin America. The state of the race for fifth-generation ("5G") wireless subscriber adoption was significantly strengthened as the number of global 5G wireless connections adjusted to 298 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to 5G Americas, the 5G and LTE wireless industry and voice association for the Americas.
5G Americas reported that data provided by Omdia for the last quarter indicates that the world reached 401 million 5G connections by the end of 2020. This figure was then revised downwards by Omdia due to the greater country-specific clarity of the Asia-Pacific region. Reported connections for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean were not substantially revised.
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, stated, "By all measures, interest and adoption of 5G is advancing everywhere as deployments, connections, coverage and the number of devices continue to grow. Estimates are being adjusted based on new information and as 5G continues to gain momentum through new applications and use cases for both businesses and consumers."
Revised data provided by Omdia indicated that the world added 79 million 5G connections between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, while wireless subscribers continued to adopt 5G at a rate two and a half times faster than the subscriber growth rate of 4G LTE. While the impacts of the pandemic level off around the world as vaccination increases and work and commuting patterns normalize, 5G continues its march in 2021 to nearly triple the number of connections it added in 2020, having reached 633 million worldwide by the end of the year.
In addition, nine 5G networks went live around the world in Q1 2021, bringing the global total to 172 networks, according to TeleGeography data. That number is expected to rise to 273 by the end of 2021 and to 313 by 2023. The availability of 5G devices also continues to grow rapidly, with 511 5G devices commercially available as of June 2021, according to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).
By region, Omdia data indicates that North America had 28.6 million 5G connections and 502 million LTE connections at the end of Q1 2021, representing 43% quarterly growth for 5G and 1% quarterly growth for LTE. This represents the addition of 8.6 million 5G connections and 3 million LTE connections during the quarter. Omdia analyst Kristin Paulin said, "Right now, the U.S. is driving 5G growth in North America. Major carriers extended their coverage across the country and are currently offering incentives on devices to promote even greater growth. Added to this is that C-band deployments are positioned to further strengthen 5G offerings starting at the beginning of next year."
In its first year of commercial availability in Latin America and the Caribbean, 5G continues to grow with 1697 new 5G connections in Q1 2021. LTE continues to be the dominant wireless cellular technology, with 20 million new LTE subscriptions in Q1 2021, equivalent to a growth of four percent over the previous quarter.
According to José Otero, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean of 5G Americas:
"Latin America's mobile markets continue their migration of subscribers to optimized mobile broadband networks as 4G continues to show rapid growth in the region at the expense of 2G and 3G. This growth was accompanied by government policies aimed at increasing the footprint of 4G networks. Soon, it will also contemplate fixed wireless broadband by 5G as a solution for the provision of high-speed connectivity for suburban and rural areas."
Omdia's projections for the future of 5G and 4G LTE remain positive, with global 5G connections estimated to reach 4.6 billion by 2026. Of these, 512 million are expected to come from North America and 277 million from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The number of networks employing 4G and 5G wireless technologies as of June 2021 is summarized below:
Global:
5G: 172
4G LTE: 687
North America:
5G: 10
4G LTE: 20
Latin America and the Caribbean:
5G: 13
LTE: 125
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