Latin America. 5G's advancement in connections and deployments continues despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic slowdown, according to 5G Americas, the industry association, and the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas. According to data from Omdia, as of Q1 2020, there were already more than 63.6 million 5G connections globally, representing a growth of 308.66% over Q4 2019.
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, said: "Globally, 5G continues to be the fastest generation of cellular wireless technology in history, even in the midst of the pandemic sweeping the world. In North America, we are seeing a strong and consistent increase in new 5G subscribers while new devices that can take advantage of low- and millimeter-band wave frequencies have been launched. At the same time, new network capabilities are being added."
In the world, there are currently 82 commercial 5G networks, a figure that would multiply by more than two to be located in 206 at the end of 2020, according to data from TeleGeography. In addition, there are already more than 100 models of commercial 5G devices available in the world, according to the Ericsson Mobility June 2020 report, with growing support for the low, medium and millimeter frequency (mmWave) bands.
Despite the global strength given by the number of 5G network deployments, regional differences are beginning to emerge due to the localized impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to José Otero, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean of 5G Americas: "The impact of COVID-19 is finally being felt in the telecommunications industry of Latin America and the Caribbean. The reduction in remittances coming in from Europe and North America coupled with mandatory closures imposed by many regional governments reduced the purchasing power of a large percentage of the population."
At the regional level, at the end of Q1 2020, North America had 1.18 million 5G connections and 494 million LTE connections. This meant 100% growth in 5G, a gain of 591,000 5G connections during the quarter and 2.34% growth for LTE, increasing 11.3 million LTE connections during the quarter. For Latin America and the Caribbean, Q1 2020 saw 3,004 5G subscriptions (142.85% growth from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020) and 372 million LTE subscriptions (3% from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020), respectively.
Going forward, Omdia projects that 5G connections will reach 238 million in the world by the end of 2020, of which North America will account for 10 million connections. According to Kristin Paulin, Senior Analyst at Omdia: "We expect growth to increase in the second half of the year, following the release of lockdowns, in addition to the continued expansion of 5G networks and the availability of more 5G devices." Latin America and the Caribbean will account for an additional 270,000 connections by the end of the year. Global 4G LTE connections remain strong and are projected to reach 5.7 billion, of which 506 million (4.8% annual growth) will come from North America and 404 million (11.8% annual growth) will correspond to Latin America and the Caribbean.
To minimize the impact of the pandemic, some governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have made adjustments to the taxes and terms of communications services. In addition, Otero states that "the lack of devices caused by global logistics obstacles resulted in a negative growth in the number of subscribers and a lower adoption of newer technologies. It is anticipated that until the situation normalizes, all spectrum allocation processes will be delayed, and no new networks will be launched during this period."
Overall, as of June 15, 2020, the following numbers of networks with wireless technologies have been deployed, according to TeleGeography:
Global:
5G: 82
LTE Advanced: 328
LTE: 677
Latin America and the Caribbean:
5G: 5*
LTE Advanced: 50
LTE: 127
North America:
5G: 7
LTE Advanced: 9
LTE: 20
*Source: TeleGeography and 5G Americas.
