As technology continues to proliferate worldwide, 5G networks have now become part of everyday life in most developed countries.
Around 47 of the top 70 economies in the world by GDP have operational 5G networks, this includes 2,497 cities worldwide with commercial 5G networks spread across 92 nations, according to Viavi research.
Around 32 countries have already stated their intention to create 5G networks, and 18 countries, including India, Mexico, Angola, Ethiopia, and Guatemala, have announced their initial 5G rollouts in 2022.
Meanwhile, 23 other countries are undergoing pre-commercial 5G testing. Only 48 nations—mostly small island states—have not yet made their 5G plans known to the world.
Additionally, 45 standalone 5G networks are presently operational across 45 distinct nations.
The United States has overtaken China to take the top rank for 5G-enabled cities, with 503 cities now offering 5G networks, a 69% growth from May 2022, while China’s number has remained constant at 356 since June 2021.
However, China continues to surpass the United States in other significant metrics like base station deployment, 5G subscribers, and data speeds.
According to the survey, manufacturing accounts for over half (44%) of publicly reported private 5G deployments, followed by logistics, education, transportation, sports, utilities, and mining.
The fact that enterprises are tackling connectivity concerns and the most promising smart apps are emerging as private 5G leaders suggests that the adoption of private 5G is being approached pragmatically.
VIAVI Solutions CTO Sameh Yamany said, “2022 was 5G’s graduation year. It evolved from being a developed market 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.”