In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 most advanced countries in 5G technology. You can also skip our detailed analysis on the topic and directly head to The Most Advanced Country in 5G Technology.
Global 5G Surge: Market Leaders, Economic Impact, and Future Prospects
According to Spherical Insights, the global 5G services market size was valued at around $101.04 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $897.98 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period of 2022-2032. South Korea and the United States are among the frontrunners in 5G deployment, with South Korea boasting the highest download speeds globally, averaging 129.7 Mbps at the end of 2021.
In Europe, countries like Finland, Switzerland, the UK, and the UAE have seen significant improvements in download speeds due to the availability of ample new 5G spectrum. However, markets where 5G arrived later or where wireless spectrum capacity for exclusive 5G usage is limited, such as Malaysia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, and Singapore, have fallen behind in download speed rankings.
5G is poised to revolutionize the healthcare industry by enabling advanced applications like remote surgery, telemedicine, and real-time health monitoring. According to PwC’s analysis, healthcare applications could contribute $530 billion to global GDP by 2030, making it the largest sector benefiting from 5G. According to PwC’s analysis, the cumulative impact of 5G across these sectors could reach $1.3 trillion in global GDP by 2030. Similarly, a report by Oxford Economics commissioned by Qualcomm found that 5G integration using mmWave spectrum has the potential to boost global productivity by 1.7% of global GDP in 2030, equivalent to 10% of global GDP growth in this period.
US 5G Market Growth: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Lead the Charge Towards a $385 Billion Future
The United States has been at the forefront of 5G deployment, with major telecom operators like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile leading the charge. According to the search results, the U.S. 5G technology market is projected to reach a substantial value of US$ 385.1 billion by 2033, with an absolute dollar growth of US$ 378.9 billion.
Verizon’s wireless division, Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest wireless carriers in the United States. The company has invested heavily in building and maintaining a robust nationwide network, offering 4G LTE and 5G coverage to millions of customers across the country. As of the first quarter of 2024, Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband network covered more than 95 million people across the United States. The company has also been expanding its 5G Home Internet service, which provides high-speed broadband internet access to households using 5G technology. In Q1 2024, Verizon reported its best quarterly result for fixed wireless net additions, with 151,000 new subscribers. In the first quarter of 2024, the company reported a modest 0.2% year-over-year increase in total revenue, reaching approximately $33 billion. Despite the revenue growth, Verizon’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) declined slightly to $1.15 in Q1 2024, compared to $1.20 in the same quarter of the previous year
Similarly, AT&T is a leading telecommunications company in the United States. AT&T was the first U.S. company to introduce standards-based mobile 5G service in parts of 12 cities in December 2018, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The company has since expanded its 5G footprint, reaching 200 million people with faster midband 5G in 2023. Additionally, AT&T has partnered with organizations like the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute to explore the potential of 5G and edge computing in areas such as 3D tumor imaging and personalized patient experiences. AT&T has passed 20 million locations with fiber internet and plans to reach 30 million by 2025. The company reported revenues of $30.0 billion in Q1 2024, down 0.4% year-over-year.
Lastly, T-Mobile has the strongest 5G signals. T-Mobile’s low-band 5G network provides broad coverage, reaching over 330 million people or 98% of the US population. It offers faster speeds than 4G LTE and better indoor penetration. The company added 1.8 million total net customer additions in Q3 2023, including 1.1 million postpaid net customer additions. In Q1 2034, they reported net income of $2.4 billion, up 22% year-over-year.
Photo by Mario Caruso on Unsplash
Our Methodology
For our methodology, we have ranked the most advanced countries in 5G technology based on 5G availability in these countries in 2023. For data accuracy, we relied on Opensignal Limited.
Please note that the criteria of this article is to show how practically advanced countries are in the implementation of 5G technology. It does not factor R&D in 5G technology.
Here is our list of the 15 most advanced countries in 5G technology.
15. Australia
5G Availability: 20.5%
According to the GSMA report, Australia has achieved remarkable 5G availability across the country. Telstra, the largest telecom operator, had the best 5G availability at 32.8% in Q1 2021, more than double that of Optus (13.6%) and nearly ten times that of Vodafone (3.4%). The three major telecom operators in Australia – Telstra, Optus, and TPG – have collectively deployed 24,896 base stations as of November 2021, with 5% of these sites dedicated to 5G technology. Telstra leads the pack with 2,695 5G sites, followed by Optus with 1,010 sites and TPG with 163 sites.
14. France
5G Availability: 20.6%
In Q1 2022, France ranked in the middle among European countries for 5G Availability at 15.7%, meaning 15.7% of 5G-capable devices had access to 5G networks. Free Mobile led French operators in 5G Availability at 26.0%, followed by Bouygues Telecom (18.3%), SFR (11.8%), and Orange (10.8%). As of April 2024, Free had 14,568 operational 5G sites out of 19,289 permits secured for the 700 MHz band, covering 81% of the French population across 9,652 municipalities. As of April 2024, there were 45,065 authorized 5G sites in France, with around 81% declared operational across all operators.
13. Saudi Arabia
5G Availability: 23.5%
Saudi Arabia has achieved remarkable progress in rolling out 5G networks across the country. According to GSMA Intelligence data, 5G coverage is available to 78% of the Saudi population as of 2022, a substantial increase from 43% just two years prior. Furthermore, a report by Opensignal reveals that Saudi Arabia has the highest overall 5G download speed experience globally, with an average of 144.5 Mbps for 5G users. This remarkable speed is significantly higher than other leading 5G markets like Canada (90.4 Mbps) and South Korea (312.7 Mbps). The report, based on a survey of 1,150 consumers, including 540 active 5G customers, found that 54% of users are highly satisfied with their 5G network performance, one of the highest shares globally.
12. Finland
5G Availability: 24.2%
Finland stands twelfth among the most advanced countries in 5G technology. At the end of 2022, fast 5G networks covered 87% of Finnish households and 12% of the country’s land area. DNA’s 5G network now covers almost 89% of Finland’s population based on place of residence, which translates to approximately 4.9 million people in 223 towns. Opensignal’s report in December 2023 showed that DNA and Telia shared the win for 5G Availability, with scores of 17.2-19%, around 3.5 percentage points over runner-up Elisa’s 14.6%.
11. Bulgaria
5G Availability: 24.7%
According to CETIN Bulgaria, the company responsible for Yettel’s network infrastructure, their 5G network is secured by over 2,750 base stations, with more than 1,000 having 5G C-band connectivity installed. This covers nearly 60% of the population and provides mobile broadband service with download speeds of up to 1 Gbps. The 5G SEAGUL cross-border project, planned for 2025, aims to provide seamless 5G and roaming connectivity along the highway between Sofia, Bulgaria, and Athens, Greece.
10. Thailand
5G Availability: 25.7%
According to Ericsson’s Mobility Report, Thailand was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to launch 5G services. Thai service providers have been quick to roll out 5G coverage, and as of Q2 2022, 5G networks covered more than 80% of the Thai population, according to a report by Ericsson. True, one of the leading Thai operators, reported that the country was expected to end 2022 with a 5G coverage of over 85% of the population, per Rcwireless.com.
9. Hong Kong
5G Availability: 26.4%
Hong Kong is undoubtedly one of the most advanced countries in 5G technology deployment. According to the Hong Kong government, existing 5G coverage in Hong Kong has reached over 90% of the population. As of December 2023, the subscription of 5G services in Hong Kong reached an impressive 6.53 million.
8. Bahrain
5G Availability: 26.8%
Bahrain stands among the most advanced countries in 5G technology. According to a report by Opensignal, Bahrain registered a remarkable 26.8% (per opensignal) improvement in measured 5G download speed, reaching an average of 237 Mbps, and a 25.4% increase in 5G upload speed, reaching 19.1 Mbps. Bahrain has also achieved peak 5G download speeds of 3.2 Gbps.
7. India
5G Availability: 29.9%
As of November 2023, 5G penetration in India is estimated to have topped 11% within just 14 months of the commercial launch. 5G subscriptions in India were expected to reach 130 million by the end of 2023. This number is projected to grow exponentially, reaching 860 million 5G subscriptions by 2029. India has the highest average data traffic per smartphone globally, projected to grow from 31 GB per month in 2023 to around 75 GB per month in 2029, at a CAGR of 16%.
6. Taiwan
5G Availability: 30%
Taiwan is undoubtedly one of the most advanced countries in 5G technology. According to Speedtest Intelligence data from Ookla, Taiwan’s 5G network achieved an impressive median download speed of 263.35 Mbps in Q3 2023, outperforming regional counterparts like Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Japan. Chunghwa Telecom, the largest telecom operator in Taiwan, reported the fastest median 5G download speed of 361.83 Mbps during Q2-Q3 2023. Taiwan Mobile, one of the major telecom operators, reported that by the end of 2022, its 5G network covered over 81.7% of Taiwan’s population Additionally, 83.9% of rural areas had access to 4G/5G Dual Connectivity mobile broadband services.
5. Singapore
5G Availability: 30%
Singapore stands fifth among the most advanced countries in 5g technology. Singtel, the primary telecom service provider, has announced that it has achieved over 95% standalone 5G nationwide coverage which makes Singapore the first country in the world to be fully covered by standalone 5G. As of December 2023, Singapore had 1,864,800 5G subscribers, with Singtel claiming to have over 1 million 5G customers by the end of September 2023. Singapore is one of the countries with the best 5G technology.
4. USA
5G Availability: 31.1%
The United States is one of the world’s leaders in 5G technology deployment and adoption. As of July 2023, Verizon announced that its 5G Ultra Wideband network provides coverage to more than 200 million people, equivalent to roughly 60% of the US population. T-Mobile, on the other hand, leads in 5G availability, with its users spending 57.9% of their time connected to 5G services, which is 2.8 times more than AT&T users and nearly six times more than Verizon users. The 5G chipsets market in the US is expected to grow from $3.55 billion in 2021 to $22.86 billion in 2027, at an annual rate of 41%.
3. Kuwait
5G Availability: 39.4%
Kuwait is at the forefront of 5G adoption in the Gulf region, with all three major mobile operators – Zain, Ooredoo, and STC – having launched 5G services as of 2020. Kuwait had a 5G availability rate of 39.4% as of December 2023. The country’s internet penetration reached 99% in January 2023, with 4.31 million people using the internet.
2. South Korea
5G Availability: 42.9%
South Korea is one of the countries with the best 5G technology. As of the second quarter of 2023, South Korea had 30.6 million 5G subscriptions, accounting for 38% of the country’s total mobile subscriptions. According to Opensignal’s December 2022 report, KT users experienced an active 5G connection for 38.2% of their time, while LG U+ and SK Telecom users spent 33.1%-34.6% of their time with an active 5G connection. South Korea is also a country with the highest 5G speed.
1. Puerto Rico
5G Availability: 48.4%
Puerto Rico tops the list for being the most advanced place in the world in 5G technology, even though its not a country in the traditional sense, but due to extensive 5G network in the country, it was fitting for it to be in the list. In February 2024, T-Mobile announced the expansion of its 5G Home Internet service to Puerto Rico, offering customers high-speed internet access through its 5G network The service is available for $50 per month with AutoPay and a qualifying voice line, with no added taxes, monthly fees, or equipment costs. To further incentivize adoption, T-Mobile is offering a 15-day worry-free trial and will pay up to $750 to cover any early termination fees from other internet service providers.
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