Report: U.S. Overtakes China in Number of Cities with 5G Deployments

The U.S. has displaced China as the country with the most 5G-enabled cities, according to VIAVI Solutions. 5G networks are active in 47 of the 70 largest world economies as measured by gross domestic product, the firm says. 

The test equipment manufacturer found that the manufacturing sector has adopted private 5G most heavily, that standalone (SA) 5G is gaining traction and that there is “diverse and widespread” interest in mmWave around the world.

The number of 5G cities in the U.S. has grown from 297 to 503 – a 69% increase – since May 2022. The number of such cities in China – which had been atop all the VIAVI updates since 2021 – stayed steady at 356.

China remains ahead in data speeds, 5G subscribers and the number of base stations deployed, however.

“The State of 5G” report says that there now are 2,497 cities with 5G across 92 countries worldwide. Twenty-three countries have begun pre-commercial trials and 32 others say they will deploy 5G. Looking at it from another perspective is even more telling: Only 48 nations have not publicly announced a 5G network. Many of these, the firm said, are smaller island nations.

The report found that the manufacturing sector is leading in 5G private network deployments, comprising 44% of all such deployments. It is followed by logistics, education, transport, sports, utilities, and mining.

The report also found that standalone 5G is gaining momentum, with 45 deployments across 23 countries. 

“2022 was 5G’s graduation year,” VIAVI Solutions CTO Sameh Yamany, said in a press release. “It evolved from being a developed markets phenomenon into a global phenomenon. On a technical level, too, with a near doubling of Standalone 5G networks, the capabilities of 5G have expanded significantly and we can look forward to more sophisticated network and business capabilities from operators. In the coming year, a major focus will be network quality and the further development of Open RAN technologies.”

In February 2020, VIAVI reported that there were 378 5G deployments in 34 countries. The top country, with deployments in 85 cities, was South Korea.