5G is slowly becoming available in new countries and more cities within each country. However, some appear to be building out their 5G network quicker than others. Here’s how 5G currently stacks up at the global level.
5G has been in development for some time and although it promises many improvements to the way devices connect to the internet (and to each other), it is going to take much longer before it becomes as readily available as previous wireless technologies. However, there are some who are working on ways and new solutions to complement and help expedite the rollout of 5G. One of the more interesting ideas is LiFi, a solution touted to offer a similar experience to Wi-Fi but using light as a source for data. Whether or not these additional ideas will help to bring 5G to more people and locations, countries are slowly continuing to light up new cities with 5G.
In its most recent “The State of 5G Deployments” report, VIAVI explains that 5G networks are now live in 34 countries, and 378 cities in total. That said, the spread of 5G networks varies massively from country to country. For example, 85 of those 378 cities are in South Korea, making it the single country with the most 5G activated cities overall. South Korea was then followed by China and its 57 cites, and the US with 50 cities. The UK was ranked fourth thanks to 31 cities, and closing out the top 5 was Saudi Arabia with 24 cities. The rest of the top 10 was made up of Spain, UAE, Australia, Germany, and Romania, in order, with each of them having between ten and fifteen 5G cities.
5G Growing, But Growth Remains Unbalanced
One of the main takeaways from the data is just how unbalanced the 5G global rollout currently is. For example, in spite of this being a top 10, South Korea has almost as many 5G cities as fifth through to tenth, combined. Similarly, the top 3 in general are some distance away from fourth. In spite of the numbers overall increasing with more countries entering a 5G era, the fragmentation is massive, and even among similarly-developed countries.
The global pattern depicted in this latest report is not that different to how 5G is rolling out domestically within the US. While there are many places where you can now access 5G in the country, there are plenty of places where you can’t. What’s more, the ability to connect in a 5G-ready location is still likely to be determined by many other factors other than 5G availability, including devices and carriers. Even with a 5G ready device, a carrier with an active network, and in a location where 5G is live, there are still varying levels of the experience due to how much the quality and speed of connection differs. Again, as time goes on, it is expected that 5G will become more readily available in the US (as well as elsewhere), and most likely also converging on a more consistent experience in general.
More: Which US Cities Have 5G Service Today
Source: VIAVI
