According to the recent data from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), as of January 2021, 65 operators from around the world have launched commercial 5G services. In total, there are 144 active 5G networks in 61 countries, and work on launching more is still underway.

GSA also reports that more than 400 operators from 131 different countries are making extensive investments in 5G. These take the form of tests, trials, as well as planned and actual network deployments. Over the last year, we have noticed a systematic development in this last area – as many as 65 operators are either testing, or in the process of implementing commercial 5G networks. Their number around the world is growing dynamically compared to commercially launched LTE networks currently offered by 806 operators.

The report also includes the most important 5G network parameters from the operators’ point of view. The 4×4 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology is of the greatest interest. As many as 152 operators worldwide are investing in it, of which 94 have completed work on its launch. Next, 86 operators are investing in the 8×8 MIMO and Massive MIMO technologies. At least 39 of them have deployed these technologies in their networks. We should also mention the 256-QAM modulation which is becoming increasingly popular. 125 operators are currently investing in it, and 79 of them are already using this technology.

Also noteworthy are the following statistics from the GSA report:

• 359 operators are investing in at least one LTE-Advanced technology,
• 210 operators are making investments in LTE-Advanced Pro technologies,
• 156 companies are in the stage of testing the Narrowband IoT technology, with 111 of them having already launched NB-IoT services,
• 51 LTE-M networks have been deployed globally to date.

Source: Telko.in