While 5G smartphone sales are now predominant, 4G connections till outnumber 5G connections. But as Free State Foundation Legal Fellow Andrew Magloughlin and I point out in our Perspectives from FSF Scholars published earlier this year titled "The Broadband Internet Services Market in January 2022," growth for 4G LTE has already peaked. As we observe in our Perspectives, 5G Americas projects that 5G will constitute the majority of mobile connections in 2024. And if future 5G connections figures match trends in 5G smartphone sales, it is a safe bet that North America – and the U.S., in particular – will be a majority 5G-connected nation sooner than the global average.
In our Perspectives, Mr. Maglouglin and I point out that "[o]ne of the most significant developments in the broadband Internet services market in 2020 and 2021 was the rapid rollout of 5G wireless networks and accelerated adoption of 5G services by U.S. consumers." Continuing rapid deployment of 5G networks -- evidenced by January 2022 sales penetration figures for North America provided by Counterpoint -- is important to the welfare of U.S. consumers because "5G networks are more capacious than 4G LTE networks and they are expected to eventually deliver average speeds about ten times faster than LTE networks, with peak speeds as much as 100 times faster."
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