Worldwide 5G subscriber base will touch 1.3 billion connections and LTE connections will reach 5.7 billion in 2023, Ovum forecasts.

There are 34 3GPP standardized commercial 5G networks globally. There will be 77 commercial 5G networks by the end of 2019. Ovum’s forecast predicts 156 million 5G connections worldwide and 32 million in North America by end of 2021.

Nearly a quarter billion new LTE connections were added during the second quarter of 2019, according to 5G Americas.

Globally, LTE connections grew by 27 percent year-over-year at the second quarter 2019. LTE attained 4.7 billion connections worldwide as of June 2019, representing 53 percent of all wireless connections worldwide.

LTE connections in the United States and Canada reached 459 million in Q2 2019, which represents 88 percent market share of all wireless technology connections.

The number of LTE connections per population of North America at the second quarter 2019 shows a penetration rate of 125 percent.  The United States alone had 130 percent LTE market penetration in June.

Kristin Paulin, senior analyst at Ovum, said: “North America is one of the leaders in 5G network deployments and we will witness substantial momentum in 5G subscribers starting in 2020.”

LTE connections in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow to more than half a billion in the region. 5G technology in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to reach 75 million connections.