Ericsson said that the number of 5G connections in Latin America by the end of last year amounted to around 7 million
5G subscriptions in Latin America are expected to reach 330 million by 2028, according to the latest edition of Ericsson’s Mobility Report.
Ericsson said that this expected figure will represent 42% of total mobile connections in Latin America by that year.
According to the report, there were around 7 million 5G subscriptions at the end of 2022. The vendor said that a more substantial uptake in the adoption of 5G in the region is expected from 2024 onwards.
The Swedish vendor noted that the forecast for 5G subscriptions in Latin America has been pushed forward one year, based on slow uptake and expected continued difficult macroeconomic conditions in the region.
“4G is currently the dominant radio access technology in the region, accounting for 74% of all subscriptions at the end of 2022. 4G subscription growth is strong, with around 60 million added during 2022. However, 3G subscriptions are declining as users migrate to 4G and 5G. Many service providers will sunset 3G networks in the next two years to enable the reuse of radio spectrum for 4G deployments,” Ericsson said.
The report also highlighted the fact that individual countries in Latin America show very different growth rates for data traffic per smartphone. “Traffic growth is driven by coverage build-out and continuing strong adoption of 4G — and eventually 5G, linked to a rise in smartphone subscriptions and an increase in average data usage per smartphone. The average data traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 41 GB per month in 2028,” it added.
According to a previous report by 5G Americas, 4G LTE is expected to remain strong in Latin America and the Caribbean through the end of 2023. In Q4 2022, there were 537 million 4G LTE connections, representing 9.3% annual growth with the addition of 46 million new LTE subscriptions, according to 5G Americas. Latin America and the Caribbean had a total of 12 million 5G connections by end-2022 and is expected to have 400 million 5G customers by 2027.
“5G and LTE continue to make significant progress throughout the region. Longer term, 5G has an opportunity to foster productivity and industrial development in the region,” said Jose Otero, VP of Caribbean and Latin America for 5G Americas.
