Ookla identified 127,509 5G deployments in 128 countries as of November 30, 2022
With 2022 coming to a close, Ookla released an update on the state 5G’s global progress. According to the firm, there were 127,509 5G deployments in 128 countries as of November 30, 2022, compared to 85,602 in 112 countries the year prior. Further, this year saw 5G speeds stabilize, with the median global 5G download speed hitting 168.27 Mbps in Q3 2022 as compared to 166.13 Mbps in Q3 2021.
According to Ooka’s date, South Korea and the U.A.E. had the fastest median download speeds in 2022, hitting 516.15 Mbps and 511.70 Mbps, respectively, during Q3 2022. Rounding out the top ten were Bulgaria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Kuwait, New Zealand, Bahrain, and Brazil. Norway, Sweden, China and Taiwan all fell out of the top 10 this year.
While 5G download speeds continued to climb and its availability continued to expand, Ookla did report a “wide disparity in 5G Availability among markets worldwide.” In the U.S., for instance, Q3 2022 showed 54.3% availability, while other markets such as Sweden and the U.A.E., only had 8.6% and 8.3% availability, respectively.
Further, Ookla’s data revealed notable 5G adoption challenges in some markets, with Bulgaria, South Korea, the Netherlands and the U.A.E. experiencing a drop in availability. “As more users acquire 5G-capable devices, operators need to balance their pricing models to ensure users have sufficient incentives to purchase a 5G tariff,” said Ookla.
In 2022, several countries made this shift to have less than 20% of its data samples be on 2G and 3G connections (combined) during Q3 2022, which meets the firm’s statistical threshold to be included in its 5G evaluation. The countries that dropped below the 20% threshold are: Algeria, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burundi, Caribbean Netherlands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
However, for many countries, 5G is still aspirational for most of its people. Ookla, though, said that for a number of them, including Belarus, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Guinea, Guyana, Madagascar and Palestine, there was material improvement in the percentage of their samples on these 2G and 3G when compared to last year.
“We’re glad to see performance levels normalize as 5G expands to more and more countries and access improves and we are optimistic that 2023 will bring further improvements,” concluded Ookla.
