5G connections in the world already total 63.6 million

At this time, there are already 82 operational commercial 5G networks around the world and more than a hundred devices with 5G capability.

The advance of 5G in connections and deployments continues despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic slowdown, according to 5G Americas, the industry association and voice of 5G and LTE for America. According to data from Omdia, as of Q1 2020, there were already more than 63.6 million 5G connections worldwide, which represents a growth of 308.66% compared to Q4 2019.

Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, highlights that "globally, 5G continues to be the fastest generation of cellular wireless technology in history, even in the midst of the pandemic that is sweeping the world. In North America, we are seeing a strong and consistent increase in new 5G subscribers while new devices have been launched that can take advantage of low and millimeter band wave frequencies. 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 reach 206 at the end of 2020, according to data from TeleGeography. Furthermore, there are already more than 100 models of commercial 5G devices available in the world, according to the report Ericsson Mobility June 2020, with increasing support for low, mid and millimeter (mmWave) frequency 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 Jose 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 in Latin America and the Caribbean. The reduction in remittances arriving from Europe and North America added to the mandatory closures imposed by many regional governments reduced the purchasing power of a large percentage of the population."

Growth by region

At the regional level, at the end of Q1 2020, North America it 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.

Looking ahead, Omdia projects that 5G connections will reach 238 million globally by the end of 2020, of which North America will account for 10 million connections. According to Kristin Paulin, Senior Analyst at Omdia, “we anticipate that growth will 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 represent 270,000 additional connections by the end of the year. Global 4G LTE connections remain strong and are expected 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 come from Latin America and the Caribbean.

To minimize the impact of the pandemic, some governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have made adjustments to taxes and terms of communications services. Furthermore, Otero states that "the lack of devices caused by global logistics obstacles resulted in negative growth in the number of subscribers and lower adoption of newer technologies. It is expected that until the situation normalizes, all spectrum allocation processes will be delayed, and no new networks will be launched during this period."