There are 2,497 cities with commercial 5G networks, across 92 countries
Viavi Solutions’ latest report looking at the global state of 5G revealed that 47 of the world’s 70 largest economies by GDP now have active 5G networks. Further, the company found that 5G Standalone (SA) networks have gained notable momentum since last year, with 45 5G SA networks in place, across 23 as of January 2023.
The report shows that there are 2,497 cities with commercial 5G networks, across 92 countries, while 23 countries are engaged with pre-commercial 5G trials, and another 32 countries have announced their 5G intentions. “This leaves just 48 countries, many of which are smaller island nations, that have not publicly announced plans for 5G,” Viavi commented.
Countries that launched their first 5G networks in 2022 include India and Mexico, Chile, Iceland, Ethiopia and Zambia.
For the first time, the U.S. has surpassed China when it comes to cities with 5G, according to Viavi. “In the U.S., the number of cities with 5G networks has grown significantly to 503, compared with just 297 in May 2022, a 69 percent increase. In contrast, the number of 5G cities in China has remained static at 356 since the June 2021 update,” the company said in a press release.
However, China remains ahead in other key metrics when it comes to what Viavi called the “depth of 5G coverage.” This means that while the U.S. may have 5G in more of its cities, China has faster data speeds and more subscribers and deployed base stations.
Finland came in third, followed by the Philippines, Canada and South Korea.
Other standout takeaways from the report include widespread interest in mmWave, with countries that have made this high-frequency spectrum available spanning every continent, from those with massive mobile markets like the U.S. and China to those with much smaller populations like Guam. “The diversity of countries licensing mmWave shows that there is a clear appeal from regulators combined with a natural interest from spectrum-hungry operators,” Viavi said. “Nonetheless, with clear benefits and drawbacks, the mmWave story is likely to have many twists and turns over the coming years.”
Viavi also found that the manufacturing sector is currently the frontrunner for private 5G promise. According to the report, 44% of the publicly announced deployments are in this space.
“2022 was 5G’s graduation year,” commented Sameh Yamany, CTO at VIAVI Solutions. “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 – and we’ll be playing our part in ensuring those are as successful as possible.”
