5G had another year of fast growth in 2022, adding 455 million connections globally, according to data from Omdia and 5G Americas.
The rate of 5G increase was 76% in 2022 compared to the previous year and will continue to be strong for the next several years, with 5.9 billion connections expected by the end of 2027.
The 455 million connections added last year represent 14% quarter-over-quarter growth from the third quarter of the year.
North America leads the world in adding wireless 5G connections, reaching a total of 119 million 5G and 507 million LTE connections by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. Nearly a third (32%) of the population now has access to 5G.
Omdia and 5G Americas predict there will be 215 million 5G connections in North America by the end of the year, thanks in large part to strong 5G smartphone shipments in the US.
The Omdia/5G Americas report shows even faster 5G growth in comparison with what was seen in their last report.
Overall, the number of 5G commercial networks has reached 259 globally, according to data from TeleGeography and 5G Americas. That figure is expected to grow to 390 by the end of 2023 and 403 by the end of 2025.
“5G is growing remarkably and scaling faster than any other previous generation of mobile wireless. While deployments and connections are added at a significant pace, the promise of 5G will be realized by technological progress in areas like standalone architecture and network slicing for new use cases,” Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, said in a prepared statement.
