NOXTAK® Technologies

 

5g status july 2020

 

5G technology is the new generation of telecommunications that is slowly expanding around the world and is, until now, the most powerful connection in existence. We tell you more about the current status of its expansion.

Although, as specialists in electromagnetic radiation, in previous articles we have highlighted that there are inherent risks to 5G, as well as many myths and disinformation that seek to distort and slow down its expansion for the wrong reasons (see article: 5G technology: three common myths and an absolute truth); It is undeniable that this technology is necessary to continue advancing in terms of connectivity and, in addition, the harmful effects of these can be avoided in the same way that today we can do it with 4G LTE, which is using specialized filters like the ones we have developed. (See article: Noxtak technology: a solution for 5G pollution).

5G today (July 2020)

According to 5G Americas, the advancement of 5G continues despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown. According to Omdia data, as of the first quarter of 2020, there were already more than 63.6 million connections worldwide, representing a growth of 308.66% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

“Globally, 5G continues to be the fastest generation of cellular wireless technology in history, even amid the pandemic that is raging the world. In North America, we are seeing a strong and consistent increase in new 5G subscribers as new devices are launched that can take advantage of low and millimeter band wave frequencies. At the same time, new network capabilities are being added.”
Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas

Currently, there are 82 commercial 5G networks in the world; a figure that would multiply by more than two to settle at 206 at the end of the year 2020, according to data from TeleGeography. Additionally, there are already over 100 models of commercial 5G devices available worldwide, according to the Ericsson Mobility June 2020 report.

5G in the United States (July 2020)

According to Opensignal, the United States is one of the main 5G markets worldwide. Many users from different US carriers already enjoy extremely fast speeds or long network connection time. However, operators are using different types of wireless spectrum compared to operators in other countries, which means that the experience in the US varies dramatically from operator to operator.

While operators in other countries primarily use the new 5G mid-range wireless spectrum, Opensignal notes that operators in the United States have had to take a different approach, as the 3.5Ghz spectrum was not available and other services were using it. However, this will soon change as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) prepares to auction the mid-band spectrum in late 2020.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile launched 5G services using mmWave, the only commercial 5G mmWave service worldwide; while Sprint used a spare spectrum in its existing 2.5Ghz midband. However, most of the time AT&T and T-Mobile users see that 5G is actually connecting to 850MHz or 600MHz low band spectrum instead of mmWave-based 5G services.

Regarding the number of users, at the end of the first quarter of 2020, the United States already had 1.18 million 5G connections and 494 million LTE connections. This meant 100% growth in 5G and 2.34% growth for LTE. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the first quarter of 2020 saw 3,004 5G subscriptions and 372 million LTE subscriptions. By the end of 2020, Omdia projects that 5G connections will reach 238 million users worldwide, of which 10 million will be in the United States alone.