According to a report by GSA, there has been a growth in the global 5G investment in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.
As per the report, 585 operators in 175 countries and territories are investing in 5G, in the form of trials, acquisition of licences, planning, network deployment, and launches by the end of March 2024.
The report added that nearly 200 other companies were awarded priority access licences in the US auction of citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) spectrum, which could potentially be used for 5G, GSA’s May 2024 snapshot of the 5G market indicated.
The report noted that 153 operators in 71 countries and territories have launched or soft-launched 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services based on the third generation partnership project (3GPP) standards, just over 48 per cent of those with launched 5G services. Meanwhile, there are 124 operators investing in 5G standalone (SA) access, including those evaluating, testing, piloting, planning, and deploying as well as those that have launched SA 5G networks. In addition, 49 operators have deployed, launched, or soft-launched SA 5G in public networks.
The report highlighted that support for band n78 among 5G devices is approaching the 2,000-mark.
As per the report, the spectrum bands most supported in deploying or deployed 5G networks are C-band, 700 MHz, 26/28 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.5 GHz. The bands most supported in announced 5G devices are C-band, 2.5 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 1800 MHz, and 700 MHz (n28).
The report further added that 2,601 announced 5G devices has been catalogued, up by more than 107 per cent from 1,253 at the start of 2022. Furthermore, GSA has identified 1,362 announced 5G phones, up more than 123 per cent from 610 at the start of 2022. There are at least 2,207 commercially available 5G devices, up more than 133 per cent annually from 947.
