Latin America. 5G is not only the fastest-growing generation of wireless cellular technology, but it is also on track to become the most widely adopted, with the projection to surpass 4G LTE by more than 2.5 billion connections by 2028, according to 5G Americas, the authoritative voice on 5G and beyond generations in the Americas. and data from Omdia.
In just six months, the world witnessed a staggering 331 million new 5G connections, pushing the global total to a staggering 1.4 billion. This spike in network adoption and deployments poses a scenario of further acceleration, in which projections indicate an imminent approach to the 2,000 million mark by the end of 2023. Omdia's latest forecast anticipates that by 2028 there will be 8 billion 5G connections, which would exceed the growth of the first decade of LTE by more than 2.5 billion connections.
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, stated: "The phenomenal global growth of 5G connections underscores the insatiable demand for advanced connectivity. With 1.4 billion connections and counting, we are seeing the transformative power of 5G as the industry embraces the integration of 5G connectivity into new devices and services in this era of innovation."
North America continues to lead the 5G race. At the end of Q2 2023, the region boasts the impressive figures of 151 million 5G connections and 496 million LTE connections. The 5G penetration rate in North America reached an exceptional 40 percent, with a growth rate of 25.5% in the first half of 2023. Projections indicate that North America's 5G connections will reach an extraordinary 669 million by 2028.
Kristin Paulin, Principal Analyst at Omdia, said: "North American operators are deploying standalone 5G, which will bring with it advancements such as network segmentation, ultra-reliable low-latency communications and massive-reach machine-type communications, which will further drive growth with this generation of technology."
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 4G LTE network growth remains robust, with a quarterly growth rate of 1.9 percent, equivalent to 10.6 million new LTE connections in Q2 2023. LTE connections now total 565 million in the region. Moreover, the region is on track to triple its 5G connections by the end of 2023, reaching a total of 62 million. The Latin America region continues to expand coverage with 5G networks and deployments, with projections pointing to a significant increase to a total of 501 million 5G connections by 2028.
According to José Otero, Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean at 5G Americas, "LTE 4G and 5G are at different stages of deployment and market cycles of these technologies in Latin America. Both are very important for the region's current and future connectivity needs. While the presence of 4G is widespread throughout the area, the new mobile generation is gaining ground in countries that allocated spectrum for the development of 5G networks. Brazil, Chile and Puerto Rico are experiencing accelerated adoption of 5G, and countries such as the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay are also expanding the coverage of this technology with respect to the population."
Global expansion of 5G networks: The global landscape of 5G networks is undergoing substantial expansion. Currently, there are 287 commercial 5G networks in the world, and this number is projected to grow to 425 by 2025. This reflects significant investments in 5G infrastructure around the world. The number of 5G and 4G LTE network deployments as of September 15, 2023 is summarized below:
5G:
Overall: 287
North America: 17
Latin America and the Caribbean: 29
4G LTE:
Overall: 707
North America: 17
Latin America and the Caribbean: 31
