Latin America. After three full years of growth, the adoption of wireless 5G in the world reached a phase of rapid acceleration, having exceeded 500 million connections by the end of 2021, and with the projection of reaching 1.3 billion by the end of this year according to data from Omdia, said 5G Americas, the wireless industry association and the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas.
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, said: "We are already beyond the opening stages of this generation of wireless cellular technology as 5G is rapidly reaching consumers and businesses, who are finding innovative new ways to employ mobile connectivity."
According to the most recent data from Omdia, the world added 303 million 5G connections compared to last year, representing an increase of 139%, from 218 million to 521 million, and a sequential growth of 19% if compared to the Q3 2021 and Q4 2021 quarters, from 437 million to 521 million. In Omdia's projection, 5G is expected to double the number of connections to 1.3 billion in 2022, nearly doubling them once again in 2023, when they would be 2 billion, and reach 4.8 billion by the end of 2026. Of that total, 516 million would come from North America and 301 million from Latin America and the Caribbean.
By region, North America had a total of 72 million 5G connections at the end of 2021, representing 54 million additional 5G connections for that year, or a gain of 292 percent year-on-year. In addition, the region had 514 million LTE connections at the end of 2021, which means the almost total maturity of the market.
Omdia Principal Analyst Kristin Paulin stated, "During 2021, 5G coverage expanded greatly, enabling 5G as an option for many more people. Major U.S. carriers have more than 70% coverage. In Canada, 5G expanded greatly for the three major carriers during 2021, each of which ended the year with 70% coverage. This compares to coverage of between 24% and 45%, depending on the operator, at the same time last year."
While 301 million 5G connections are expected for Latin America and the Caribbean by 2026, 4G LTE remains the dominant wireless cellular technology in the region to this day, with 495 million connections. This represents an annual growth of 17 percent, with the aggregate of 72.6 million new LTE subscriptions in year-on-year terms. Omdia forecasts that 4G LTE will continue to grow strongly in Latin America and the Caribbean until the end of 2022, with 43.2 million new 4G LTE connections, as 5G adoption begins to overtake 4G LTE.
According to José Otero, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean of 5G Americas, "5G deployments continue to advance in Latin America as regulators allocate new spectrum. The new generation of mobile communications offers many technological functionalities that will be welcomed by the citizens of the region as 5G coverage increases. Overall, 4G LTE is delivering excellent mobile broadband during the difficult times of the pandemic, underscoring the importance of having reliable communications services."
In total, commercial 5G networks total 216, according to data from TeleGeography and 5G Americas. That figure is projected to rise to 330 by the end of 2022 and 352 by the end of 2024, representing strong growth in 5G network investments in many regions of the world. The number of 5G and 4G LTE network deployments is summarized below:
5G:
Global: 216
North America: 12
Latin America and the Caribbean: 22
