5G connections continue their seemingly unstoppable advance and North America is seeing the strongest growth, according to numbers and percentages released by 5G Americas.
The organization said that there were 922 million 5G connections globally as of the end of the third quarter and projected that there will be 1.1 billion by the end of the year. The number will hit 5.9 billion by the end of 2027.
Telegeography and 5G Americas report that there are 14 5G networks in North America and 250 globally. There are 17 4G LTE networks in North America and 702 million globally.
North America 5G Growth
North America is leading in 5G growth, with 108 million 5G and 506 million LTE connections as of the end of the third quarter. The penetration of 5G into the North American market was nearing 30%, 5G Americas said. The region added 14 million 5G connections during the quarter, a 15.5% increase over the second quarter of the year.
There will be 137 million North American 5G connections by the end of the year, researchers said. US smartphone shipments will reach 118.1 million units this year, according to IDC numbers cited by 5G Americas. That would be a 27% increase from 2021.
Worldwide, 75 countries have 5G connections. About 433 million 5G connections were added from the third quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of this year. This increased connections from 489 million to 922 million. Sequential quarterly growth from the second to the third quarters of 2022 was 14.4%. The total number of connections grew from 806 million to 921 million.
“There is still much more to come from 5G that will drive growth,” Kristin Paulin, Principal Analyst at Omdia said in a press release.”Expanding mid-band coverage will bring a better 5G experience, balancing coverage and speed. And the standalone 5G deployments in progress will enable new applications that take 5G to the next level.”
