A new study by Nokia and research firm Omdia finds that 5G technologies could contribute up to $3.3 trillion to Latin America’s economy by 2035. The report, titled “Why 5G in Latin America?”, also forecasts an associated boost in productivity of roughly $9 trillion, while acknowledging uncertainty around the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The authors note it is still too early to predict precisely how Covid-19 will reshape behaviours and accelerate 5G adoption across the region. Nevertheless, rising demand for broadband—especially for fixed wireless access (FWA) to homes and businesses—strengthens the 5G business case and creates new opportunities for deployment.
The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to digitise essential sectors such as healthcare, emergency services, manufacturing, and logistics. Those sectors stand to gain from faster, more reliable connectivity. At the same time, the report warns that a significant digital divide persists across Latin America: unequal broadband penetration and connectivity risk leaving large populations and regions behind.
This regional divide mirrors findings in other markets, such as the Asia-Pacific, where wealth and infrastructure gaps reduce the impact of cloud and advanced network services in some countries. In Latin America, Brazil emerges as a major potential beneficiary of 5G, with the study estimating about $1.22 trillion of economic impact for the country and a productivity increase of just over $3 trillion.
The report highlights that improvements in emergency communications will drive adoption of advanced 5G features, like network slicing, which allow operators to dedicate virtual network resources to critical services. Looking ahead to Industry 4.0, much of the new value created will come from enabling remote visibility, management, operation, repair, and direct human interaction with physical systems and machinery—capabilities that 5G can enable at scale.
To realise these benefits, the report makes targeted recommendations for both service providers and policymakers. Operators are encouraged to prepare existing 4G networks for smooth upgrades to 5G, ensuring capacity and coverage are optimized to support next-generation services. Policymakers are urged to finalise 4G spectrum allocations and to establish a clear spectrum policy roadmap and an infrastructure policy that incentivises private-sector investment in 5G networks.
“Latin American countries must diversify their sources of income and create higher value-added jobs,” said Wally Swain, principal consultant for Omdia Latin America. “Sectors such as mining and manufacturing need to become more productive, and 5G will play a critical role in enabling that transformation.”
The full Nokia and Omdia report provides detailed regional analysis and policy recommendations. It examines potential economic outcomes across different deployment scenarios and outlines steps governments and industry stakeholders can take to maximise social and economic value from 5G adoption.
Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash
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