Technology

Visualizing the State of 5G Networks Worldwide

Published

3 years ago

October 6, 2020

Iman Ghosh

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Visualizing the State of 5G Networks Worldwide

View the high resolution of this infographic by clicking here.

By 2025, the world will reach 1.8 billion 5G connections—led by Developed Asia and North America, two regions that could each see nearly half of mobile connections operating on 5G networks.

This sweeping rollout relies on infrastructure capacities, and many operators are buying in big to usher in 5G adoption. This infographic from Raconteur covers where we are on the roadmap towards 5G becoming mainstream, and which regions are leading the way in connectivity.

Commercial Launches of 5G Networks

From its earliest iterations to the Internet of Things, we’ve surpassed three generations of wireless networks. Now, 5G is at a tipping point.

5G is unique in that in order to actually start using the network, you need a device that works on it—unlike previous generations where they could simply switch over. Moreover, carriers need to invest in the infrastructure to optimize network access and the density of devices using it.

As more operators buy into the technology, the latter is finally beginning to happen in some areas. Here’s how the total numbers break down across the world, as of mid-September 2020:

397 operators are investing in 5G mobile or 5G fixed wireless access/home broadband networks
118 operators have announced the deployment of 5G within their live network
96 operators have announced 3GPP (protocols for mobile telecomms) 5G service launches

Major phone operators and even tech companies are behind accelerating this change, from Vodafone to Verizon—and most recently, Microsoft has entered the playing field.

Cross-Generational Mobile Connections, By Region

As Cisco highlights, there’s more room to grow yet. By 2023, North America will have the highest share of 5G networks, at 17% within the region.

Region	≤ 3G	4G	5G	LPWA
Asia Pacific	23%	52%	13%	12%
Latin America	37%	50%	2%	16%
North America	1%	45%	17%	37%
Western Europe	13%	43%	16%	28%
Central & Eastern Europe	31%	50%	2%	16%
Middle East & Africa	73%	22%	1%	4%
World	29%	46%	11%	14%

*Low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks are a generic type of network that can coexist across 2G, 3G, and 4G. Network shares may not add up due to rounding.

Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa could have the most catching up to do, with 73% of the region still operating on 3G networks or less in 2023. The good news? Commercial 5G trials in Nigeria may signal the potential of networks leapfrogging ahead.

Need for Speed

As the number of 5G networks tick up, there will be an undeniable boost to mobile and broadband speeds (Mbps) across regions by 2023. In particular, Asia Pacific will have the fastest broadband speeds at 157 Mbps while Western Europe will lead with 62 Mbps on mobile.

Region	Mobile (2018)	Mobile (2023)	Broadband (2018)	Broadband (2023)
Asia Pacific	14.3	45.7	62.8	157.1
Latin America	8.0	28.8	15.7	59.3
North America	21.6	58.4	56.6	141.8
Western Europe	23.6	62.4	45.6	123.0
Central & Eastern Europe	12.9	43.0	35.0	87.7
Middle East & Africa	6.9	24.8	9.7	41.2
World	13.2	43.9	45.9	110.4

Faster speeds is one of several factors catapulting the promise of 5G networks to unlock transformations across entire industries, from manufacturing to healthcare.

What further advancements could dial reach region’s share of 5G networks all the way up?

Related Topics:technology IOT 5g 5G network

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AI

Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs

Nearly 800,000 AI jobs were posted in the U.S. throughout 2022. View this graphic to see a breakdown by state.

Published

3 days ago

May 26, 2023

Marcus Lu

Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs

Much ink has been spilled over fears that artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate jobs in the economy. While some of those fears may be well-founded, red-hot interest in AI innovation is creating new jobs as well.

This graphic visualizes data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics firm, which shows how many AI-related jobs were posted in each state throughout 2022.

In total there were 795,624 AI jobs posted throughout the year, of which 469,925 (59%) were in the top 10. The full tally is included in the table below.

Rank	State	Number of job postings	% of total
1	California	142,154	17.9%
2	Texas	66,624	8.4%
3	New York	43,899	5.5%
4	Massachusetts	34,603	4.3%
5	Virginia	34,221	4.3%
6	Florida	33,585	4.2%
7	Illinois	31,569	4.0%
8	Washington	31,284	3.9%
9	Georgia	26,620	3.3%
10	Michigan	25,366	3.2%
11	North Carolina	23,854	3.0%
12	New Jersey	23,447	2.9%
13	Colorado	20,421	2.6%
14	Pennsylvania	20,397	2.6%
15	Arizona	19,514	2.5%
16	Ohio	19,208	2.4%
17	Maryland	16,769	2.1%
18	Minnesota	11,808	1.5%
19	Tennessee	11,173	1.4%
20	Missouri	10,990	1.4%
21	Oregon	10,811	1.4%
22	Washington, D.C.	9,606	1.2%
23	Indiana	9,247	1.2%
24	Connecticut	8,960	1.1%
25	Wisconsin	8,879	1.1%
26	Alabama	7,866	1.0%
27	Kansas	7,683	1.0%
28	Arkansas	7,247	0.9%
29	Utah	6,885	0.9%
30	Nevada	6,813	0.9%
31	Idaho	6,109	0.8%
32	Oklahoma	5,719	0.7%
33	Iowa	5,670	0.7%
34	South Carolina	4,928	0.6%
35	Louisiana	4,806	0.6%
36	Kentucky	4,536	0.6%
37	Nebraska	4,032	0.5%
38	Delaware	3,503	0.4%
39	New Mexico	3,357	0.4%
40	Rhode Island	2,965	0.4%
41	New Hampshire	2,719	0.3%
42	Hawaii	2,550	0.3%
43	Mississippi	2,548	0.3%
44	Maine	2,227	0.3%
45	South Dakota	2,195	0.3%
46	Vermont	1,571	0.2%
47	North Dakota	1,227	0.2%
48	Alaska	970	0.1%
49	West Virginia	887	0.1%
50	Montana	833	0.1%
51	Wyoming	769	0.1%

The following chart adds some context to these numbers. It shows how the percentage of AI job postings in some of the top states has changed since 2010.

We can see that California quickly became the primary destination for AI jobs in the early 2010s, presumably as Silicon Valley companies began developing the technology.

California’s share has since declined, with a significant number of jobs seemingly moving to Texas. In fact, many tech companies are relocating to Texas to avoid California’s relatively higher taxes and cost of living.

The 10 Most In-Demand Specialized Skills

Lightcast also captured the top 10 specialized skills that were required for AI-related jobs. These are listed in the table below.

Skill	Frequency (number of postings)	Frequency (% of postings)
Python	296,662	37%
Computer Science	260,333	33%
SQL	185,807	23%
Data Analysis	159,801	20%
Data Science	157,855	20%
Amazon Web Services	155,615	19%
Agile Methodology	152,965	19%
Automation	138,791	17%
Java	133,856	17%
Software Engineering	133,286	17%