The world reached 200 operators offering 5G services at the end of 2021, in 78 countries, the GSA reports. Nearly twice the number, 487 operators in 145 countries, were investing in 5G, including trials and licence acquisitions, up from 412 operators at the end of 2020.
Notably only 187 of the operators offering 5G services provide 5G mobile services, in 72 countries. The others are delivering fixed-wireless services based on 5G technology. The GSA counts in total 83 operators in 45 countries/territories that have launched 3GPP-compliant 5G fixed-wireless access services.
Only 99 operators in 50 countries are investing already in 5G standalone (including those planning/testing and launched 5G SA networks). GSA has catalogued just 20 operators in 16 countries with 5G standalone deployed in public networks.
The 5G device market is growing much more quickly. The GSA counted 1,257 announced devices at year-end, up nearly 125 percent from 2020. Around half (614) are 5G phones, up more than 120 percent from 278 at the end of 2020.
In total, 857 of the devices are commercially available, more than double the 335 on the market at the end of 2020.
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