5G networks have now become part of everyday life in most of the world’s leading countries as the technology continues to spread around the globe.
The Viavi report states that 47 of the world’s 70 largest economies by GDP have operational 5G networks. This includes 2,497 cities worldwide with commercial 5G networks in 92 countries.
18 countries, including India, Mexico, Angola, Ethiopia and Guatemala, have declared their first 5G deployment in 2022, and 32 countries have already declared their intention to build 5G networks, while 23 other countries are conducting pre-commercial 5G trials. Only 48 countries, mostly tiny island states, have yet to reveal their 5G plans.
5G progress
In addition, there are already 45 independent 5G networks operating in 45 different countries.
With 503 cities now offering 5G networks, an increase of 69% from May 2022, the U.S. overtook China to become the number one city for 5G-enabled cities, while the number of cities in China has held steady at 356 as of June 2021 However, China still leads the US in other key stats, including data speeds, 5G subscribers and base station deployment.
According to the report, nearly half (44%) of publicly announced private 5G deployments are in the manufacturing sector, followed by logistics, education, transportation, sports, utilities and mining. This indicates that the deployment of the private 5G network is being solved pragmatically, with companies addressing connectivity issues, and the most promising smart applications becoming leaders in the field of private 5G network.
“2022 was the year of completion of 5G,” commented Sameh Yamany, CTO at VIAVI Solutions.
“It has evolved from a developed markets phenomenon to a global phenomenon. Also on a technical level, with the number of standalone 5G networks nearly doubling, 5G capabilities have expanded significantly and we can expect more sophisticated networking and business opportunities from operators. In the coming year, the main focus will be the quality of the network and the further development of Open RAN technology.”