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The US is poised to lead the world in 5G adoption, according to a new report from the GSMA, a trade association that represents mobile network operators worldwide.
By 2025, 49 percent of all mobile connections in the US are forecast to be running on 5G, according to the Mobile Economy 2018 report. That’s compared to around 41 percent in Canada and 30 percent in Europe and key Asian markets.
Earlier this year, Deloitte published a report showing that China is far outpacing the US in 5G infrastructure investments. However, mobile operators in North America are now making record levels of investment to upgrade networks and acquire spectrum.
“With nationwide mobile broadband coverage and high levels of smartphone ownership, consumers across the US and Canada are highly engaged and early adopters of new types of digital service and content,” Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, said in a statement, “and we therefore expect these two markets to migrate rapidly over to new 5G networks over the coming years.”
During Mobile World Congress Americas, Verizon announced that it’s launching its 5G home broadband services in a handful of cities. Verizon’s chief network engineering officer told ZDNet that the carrier will be launching its 5G home service in many more locations, with a mobile service to follow quickly.
AT&T and T-Mobile have also announced plans to launch 5G in major US cities by the end of 2018. Sprint executive chairman Marcelo Claure said at MWCA on Wednesday that Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile must move forward if the US wants to lead the way in 5G.
The GSMA report also Forecast that the mobile industry’s economic contribution in North America should increase 32 percent to $1.1 trillion by 2022, up from $833 billion in 2017. That amounts to an increase from 4 percent of GDP to 4.9 percent, driven by higher productivity and the digitization of industry and services.
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