The adoption of 5G connections accelerated in 2023, reaching 1.76 billion globally by end-December, following the addition of 700 million connections in the 12-month period, according to a report from 5G Americas, with data from Omdia. The report also shows that North America led 5G adoption, with connections in the region accosting for 29 percent of all North American connections by end-2023.
The region saw a 64 percent year-on-year growth in 5G connections, adding 77 million new connections to its network. By end-2023, North American 5G connections totalled 197 million.
The report also indicates that Latin America saw substantial progress in both 4G LTE and 5G connections, with LTE connections reaching 582 million at end-2023, adding 40 million new connections in the 12-month period ended 31 December 2023. The region ended the year with 39 million 5G connections.
Global 5G connections are expected to reach 7.9 billion by 2028, with North America forecasted to hit 700 million 5G connections by the same year. 5G is expected to account for more than half of all connections by 2028. For North America, 5G will account for more than 80 percent of connections.
Additionally, 5G data traffic is expected to be 76 percent of all technology data traffic as it reaches 2.6 billion TB (or 2600 EB), with all technology data traffic reaching 3.4 billion TB (or 3400 EB) by 2028.
Global IoT subscriptions currently stand at 3.1 billion, complemented by 6.6 billion smartphone subscriptions. Forecasts suggest that IoT subscriptions will reach 4.5 billion, while smartphone subscriptions will surge to 7.4 billion by 2026.
Currently, there are 314 commercial 5G networks worldwide, and this number is expected to grow to 450 by 2025.
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