Launching the first 5G Network in Mexico

5G rollout will bring with it an enormous contribution to the Latin American economy, estimated at around USD 90 billion by 2034 according to GSMA—an equivalent to an increase of around five percent in the region’s GDP. IT analyst firm, IDC, forecasts that the first year of 5G operations will detonate a value close to USD 4,4 million in Mexico, only in the services sector.

Economic recovery and social inclusion challenges in Latin America

The COVID-19 pandemic halted the acceleration of Latin America’s economic recovery efforts significantly in 2021. Additionally, the persistent and widespread social and economic problems across the region make a full recovery seem a long way off.

Despite multiple efforts to connect the region, there still exists a significant lag that contributes to a large digital divide in comparison to Europe, USA, and Asia. Bridging the digital divide in Latin America is made even more challenging by the wide gap between rural and urban areas in most of the countries that make up the region.

As a result of this digital divide, we can see that the countries with limited access to the internet for young people also tend to have lower levels of economic development. In Mexico, the rollout of telesecundarias (middle schools with broadcast lessons via satellite TV) had a long-term influence on their graduates’ educational and employment future.

Each additional year of education increased average income by nearly 18% according to the report Connecting Learners: Narrowing the Educational Divide by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by Ericsson.

As it stands, 4G penetration is still below 70 percent, with only Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico having launched 5G services in Latin America. The remaining nations are either continuing to test or have not yet launched auctions for 5G spectrum.

Latin America is already an industrial hub of global relevance. For example, mining, manufacturing, seaports, airports, warehouses, and energy plants are all examples of sectors developing innovative solutions to take advantage of the emerging opportunities for private networks. These private networks will provide use cases that will significantly improve employee safety, increase in productivity, and reduce operational expenses. Ultimately, a stable, ultra-fast and affordable mobile broadband service should be an overall priority in the region to help close the digital divide.

5G goes beyond the end user

5G is up to 100 times faster than 4G and can transform Latin America’s society, industries, and its peoples’ day-to-day lives via its faster connectivity, ultra-low latency and higher bandwidth characteristics.

According to Ericsson Consumer and IndustryLab analysis, “Harnessing the 5G consumer potential” study, the Latin American 5G market is projected to generate over USD 28.4 billion annually by 2030 in enhanced mobile broadband revenues. In addition, 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has been identified as a potential solution to help connect rural areas and expand broadband coverage. It is expected to be worth nearly USD 4 billion in 2030, with 21 million subscriptions. Maintaining this momentum and accelerating commercial deployments and adoption can help drive the region’s recovery from COVID-19.

The Consumer and IndustryLab analysis also states that the digitalization of industries in Latin America could develop into a market worth more than USD 21 billion annually. In the long term, this critical infrastructure could increase regional competitiveness and translate into a GDP increase of more than five percent.

Unlocking Mexico’s 5G potential

Together with Telcel, we’re launching the first commercial 5G network in Mexico—the largest in Latin America so far—reaching 15 cities in the country with more than 1,500 radio base stations. Whereas its predecessors were made to transform consumers experience, 5G has technical capabilities that are particularly useful for the development of industry. Mexico has the utmost potential to become a valuable beneficiary of 5G, especially as it’s one of the most important manufacturing centers in Latin America and the world.

In its initial phase, 5G will be deployed in Mexico with the 5G Non-standalone (NSA) mode, which is supported by the existing infrastructure of the 4G LTE network, which was commercially launched by Telcel in 2018, thus allowing a faster, easier and more efficient 5G deployment. Later, this network will evolve to the complete implementation phase with the 5G Standalone mode.

Telcel subscribers with 5G-compatible phones will be able to access the network in major cities of Mexico. Telcel will also offer Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services for homes and businesses.

Using Ericsson’s 5G mobile network technology infrastructure, we will manage more than 70 percent of the new 5G networks to be deployed in Mexico, and which also handles more than 50 percent of the 5G networks globally.

As part of the launch of the first 5G network in Mexico, we carried out various 5G use cases demos that show the differentials the fifth-generation network has to offer. These included a collaborative robot (Cobot) that replicates a person’s movements in real time, the first 3D holographic call over a 5G network in Latin America, which allowed two people to remotely interact in real time through the simultaneous transmission of 3D video in HD, a 5G Racing Car videogame simulator, which shows the differences in speed, stability and latency of streaming in 3G and 4G versus 5G, and a riding experience on a tricycle with 5G Virtual Reality, that showcases the ability of 5G to receive and transmit information in real time with ultra-low latency.

Ericsson’s long-term presence in Mexico

For 118 years, Ericsson has been present in Mexico, developing the infrastructure and offering telecommunications services. With a workforce of more than 2,600 employees and two factories, its territory is home to the operations headquarters for the north of Latin America. The rollout of the new generation networks will undoubtedly have a catalytic effect for the entire region as 5G’s characteristics are ideal for new use cases and in turn moving business and industry forward to close the digital gap between the frontrunning regions.

Our purpose of a world where limitless connectivity improves lives, redefines business and pioneers a sustainable future but improving lives in the future is getting closer through 5G in LATAM.

Limitless connectivity will deliver a revolution in human healthcare; it will enable a world where schools are connected and offer experiential learning in virtual environments. It will create a world where we have an enriched experience of the world.

READ MORE