Francisco Amaya, Economist at GSMA Intelligence
5G in 2023: How far have we come? Insights from the new 5G Connectivity Index
Four years after its arrival the number of 5G connections worldwide surpassed 1.5 billion at the end of 2023, making it the fastest-growing mobile broadband technology to date.
However, despite this global progress a new digital divide is emerging with over 100 countries and territories yet to launch 5G networks, the majority of which are low- or middle-income.
Furthermore, even in markets with established 5G infrastructure the technology has not fully realised its potential in terms of digital transformation, economic impact and commercial value. This highlights the necessity for strategic interventions, enabling policies and targeted investments to ensure the widespread evolution of 5G.
It is in this context that GSMA Intelligence has introduced the 5G Connectivity Index (5GI), which combines enablers and outcomes to comprehensively measure 5G development across markets. The results of the first edition are presented below.
Leading the way are the developed economies in the Gulf, Scandinavia and Asia-Pacific regions. These have achieved high scores across many indicators related to spectrum, coverage, network experience, affordability and the device ecosystem.
Indicators with good performance include 5G coverage and download speeds, as well as affordability for devices and mobile plans, reflecting their high levels of 5G adoption and device uptake. But 5G FWA adoption, data usage and revenue growth remain key areas for improvement. The countries which perform less well on the Index are mostly low or middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Their lower scores are primarily attributable to the network, affordability and adoption pillars.
Aside from the rankings, the more detailed data highlight some notable findings:
5G is providing better consumer experience In all of the markets covered by the 5GI, the consumer experience on 5G consistently outperforms 4G. Average 5G download speeds are two to 19 times faster than 4G, depending on the market. The allocation of new spectrum bands, especially in the 3.5 GHz range, has played an instrumental role in improving user experience.
5G is becoming more affordable The majority of markets analysed in the index offer 5G data plans of 100GB per month for less than 2% of monthly income per capita and the growing importance of lower-cost 5G handsets is evident, with almost two-thirds of new smartphone shipments in emerging markets priced below $250.
5G FWA is an early success story but there is room for growth Several countries have achieved significant 5G FWA adoption amongst households including the USA, Germany, Kuwait and Australia. While adoption remains less than 5% in 30 out of 39 markets in the 5GI, it is clearly one of the most appealing 5G use cases for consumers.
5G market development is still in its early stages Despite the continued growth in mobile data consumption, most of the more data-intensive 5G use cases (such as AR and VR) remain nascent, including for consumers. Furthermore in most markets, including those with higher 5G consumer adoption, the B2B segment – expected by operators to be a significant driver of 5G revenue growth – has not yet achieved scale.
Going forward, the deployment of 5G standalone and 5G-Advanced represents the next stage of 5G’s evolution to support new market demands. These technologies should drive significant improvements in performance in the 5GI.
However realising these opportunities will be dependent on wide ecosystem support, overcoming investment constraints where they exist and establishing a path to the monetisation of 5G use cases.
All of this will require an enabling policy framework that incentivises investment, fosters innovation and collaboration, promotes dynamic competition and supports the timely access to the right amount and type of affordable spectrum.
The 5G Connectivity Index is therefore being introduced at a key point in the evolution of 5G. Going forward, it will provide the mobile ecosystem and policymakers with a comprehensive assessment of 5G development over time and enable them to target investments and resources where they are most needed.
The 5G Connectivity Index will be launched at MWC Barcelona and available from: https://gsmaintelligence.com/5g-index