A GSMA report published to coincide with MWC Americas forecasts that 49 percent of mobile connections in the United States will be on 5G by 2025.
North America has led global 4G adoption, and the GSMA expects the region to follow with a rapid shift to 5G. While roughly half of U.S. connections are projected to be 5G by 2025, the report anticipates adoption rates in Europe and major Asian markets (China, Japan, and South Korea) will be closer to 30 percent in the same period.
Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, commented: “The successful large-scale rollouts of 4G networks across the US and Canada, alongside strong consumer take-up of 4G-capable smartphones, has established North America as one of the most advanced mobile regions in the world, on a par with the most advanced markets in Europe and Asia.
North American mobile subscribers are highly engaged digital consumers, using their smartphones to access a broad range of services and content, and they are likely to be early adopters of 5G in areas such as ultra-HD video, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving.”
Early 5G deployments in the United States are expected to be driven primarily by fixed wireless services from major carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. Verizon outlined plans to launch fixed wireless 5G services in 2018 after testing across 11 metropolitan areas in 2017.
Following those fixed wireless rollouts, standardized mobile 5G services are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. in 2019, with Canada expected to follow in 2020.
In 2016, mobile technologies and services contributed 3.9% of North America’s GDP, generating $790 billion in economic value. The GSMA projects that contribution will grow to just over $1 trillion—approximately 4.7% of GDP—by the end of the decade.
A significant portion of this growth will come from expanded use of cellular technologies, including machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Research cited by the report indicates IoT connections in North America could quadruple between 2016 and 2025, reaching nearly six billion connections.
Network operators are already preparing for this shift. For example, T-Mobile has announced plans to launch a nationwide NB-IoT network, aiming to accelerate IoT adoption and support a wide range of low-power, wide-area use cases.
The full GSMA Mobile Economy North America 2017 report is available from the GSMA (PDF).
What do you think of the GSMA’s projections for 5G and IoT growth in North America? Share your thoughts in the comments.