London, UK – 22 April 2026 – GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) today published its new State of the Market report. Drawing together insights from across GSA’s full range of industry data, all validated by GSA’s experienced research team, the State of the Market report presents the most comprehensive overview of the global status of 5G networks, devices, spectrum and services.
The GSA State of the Market April report is available for free download here https://gsacom.com/paper/state-of-the-market-april-2026/ (registration required). A detailed Annex of industry data is also available exclusively for GSA Members and Associates.
Joe Barrett, President of Global mobile Suppliers Association, commented: “The global 5G market is entering a more selective and strategic phase of development. While the first years of 5G were defined by launch momentum and a race to switch on services, the State of the Market report shows an industry moving into a period shaped less by headline launches and more by network quality, architectural maturity and service differentiation. This shift is most clearly visible in 5G Standalone which now underpins much of the industry’s next wave of innovation, including 5G RedCap, network slicing and more advanced enterprise offers. As this edition of the GSA State of the Market report confirms, these trends all point to a market that is no longer defined simply by how many 5G networks exist, but by what those networks are becoming. 5G in 2026 will be shaped by standalone adoption, ecosystem readiness and the ability of operators to translate technical capability into commercial value.”
THE STATE OF THE MARKET – KEY TAKEAWAYS
Global 5G expansion is still advancing, but the story is no longer just about adding more launches to the map
- 392 operators have launched 5G networks, up 14% from March 2025, reflecting 44% of total LTE and 5G networks.
Spectrum remains the essential enabler of the next phase of 5G growth, and beyond that 6G.
- In the last year, 11 5G auctions have been completed across the world, for an average price of $663.4 million.
The 5G device market continues to expand rapidly, but the more meaningful story is how it is broadening.
- As of now, there are 4,256 announced 5G devices, up 24% from last year. In comparison, total LTE devices totalled 29,024.
5G Standalone is becoming the clearest marker of market maturity.
- 95 operators have launched a 5G Standalone service, highlighting a growth of 42% since 1Q25.
5G-Advanced is still at an early stage, but its growth rate makes it one of the clearest signals of where the market is heading next.
- In total, 35 operators are investing in 5G-Advanced, an increase of 71% since last year. Of these, 11 operators have launched a service.
Private mobile networks continue to demonstrate that 5G’s opportunity extends well beyond public consumer services.
- The manufacturing vertical is a strong adopter of mobile private networks, with 374 identified customer deployments, followed by the education and academic research sector with 169 customers deploying it.
Satellite-enabled mobile connectivity is moving from experiment to early commercial reality.
- 97 operators are investing in satellite-to cellphone connectivity and 8 available chipsets are compatible with the technology.
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) remains one of 5G’s strongest and most visible commercial success stories.
- There are 394 operators who have launched a 5G fixed wireless service, with another 29 investing in the technology, an increase of 59% since June 2025.
The GSA State of the Market reports contains the latest global data behind all these trends and developments, as of the end of March 2026. All of the detail behind the data is available exclusively to GSA Members and Associates through a downloadable annex of Excel files detailing:
- Operators having launched public 5G networks
- List of commercially available 5G devices
- Operators investing in public 5G standalone networks
- Operators investing in 5G RedCap
- Operators investing in 5G-Advanced networks
- Organisations deploying or piloting private mobile networks based on LTE, 5G or GSM-R
- List of operators’ satellite partnerships
- List of 5G and LTE FWA networks
All the data is taken from GAMBoD, GSA’s suite of databases, available exclusively to GSA Members and GSA Associates. The databases, which are curated and validated by GSA’s experienced research team of industry analysts, include devices, public networks, private networks, chipsets, spectrum assignments, spectrum pricing and a global database of mobile operator technology and spectrum profiles. All employees of GSA Member or GSA Associate organisation benefit from unlimited access to the full suite of seven databases.
The GSA State of the Market April report is available for download here https://gsacom.com/paper/state-of-the-market-april-2026/(registration required).
About GSA
GSA is the voice of the global mobile ecosystem representing companies engaged in the supply of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, devices, applications and mobile support services. The organisation plays a central role in promoting 3GPP technology, advocating spectrum policies and stimulating IMT industry development. The association is a single source of information for industry reports and market intelligence. To understand more about the full benefits of becoming a GSA Member or Associate and the breadth and depth of data in the GSA’s 7 GAMBoD databases, please visit: https://members.gsacom.com
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