China Passes 1 Billion 5G Connections as Mexico Gains Ground

China has surpassed 1 billion 5G connections, while Mexico is steadily expanding its own 5G footprint and emerging as a key player in Latin America’s telecom transformation. The contrast highlights both the scale of China’s digital leadership and Mexico’s ongoing efforts to strengthen 5G, fiber and telecom infrastructure amid a broader regional market shift.

China has become the first country to surpass 1 billion 5G mobile subscriptions, reinforcing its lead in next-generation connectivity and digital infrastructure. According to official Chinese government data, the country reached 1.002 billion 5G mobile subscriptions by the end of Nov. 2024, equivalent to 56% of all mobile phone users, while its network footprint expanded to about 4.2 million 5G base stations nationwide.

Mexico remains at a much earlier stage of adoption, but growth is accelerating. Expansión reported that Mexico is expected to reach 16.9 million 5G connections, while S&P Global Market Intelligence, noted that the country closed 2024 with 16.2 million 5G subscribers after 64% annual growth. This data suggest Mexico is still far behind global leaders in scale, but is emerging as one of Latin America’s faster-growing 5G markets.

China's 5G buildout reflects years of aggressive infrastructure deployment and state-backed industrial policy. In contrast, private investment, regulatory shifts, and growing public-sector intervention reshape the Mexico telecom market. According to MBN, Mexico is now at the center of a broader telecom realignment in Latin America, as the federal government moves to take majority control of Altán Redes through CFE Telecomunicaciones e Internet para Todos under the so-called Quetzal Project.

This move could significantly influence how connectivity expands in underserved regions. AThe federal government originally launched Altan's Red Compartida as a wholesale network to reach areas where private operators had limited incentives to invest. . Following financial difficulties and a government rescue in 2022, the state now holds a much larger role in the network’s future. 

Market Dynamics and Fiber Expansion

MBN reports that Altán operates 11,383 towers, accounting for 25.8 % of Mexico’s tower market, across more than 82,000 localities serving 24 million people. The network is also central to the operations of mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs, which represented 15.2 % of Mexico’s mobile market by the end of 2024.

At the same time, Mexico is becoming increasingly important in regional fiber deployment. MBN notes that fiber-to-the-home overtook DSL and cable as the country’s main broadband platform in 2022, placing Mexico among the Latin American leaders in FTTH expansion alongside Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Peru. 

The broader digital economy increasingly depends on low-latency fixed connectivity for cloud services, streaming, industrial applications, and AI workloads.

Still, structural limits remain. Mexico continues to be a heavily prepaid telecom market, accounting for 32.3% of all prepaid subscriptions in Latin America by the end of 2024, according S&P. Postpaid penetration remains comparatively lower, which can constrain long-term revenue stability for operators and slow the broader monetization of advanced services. 

In addition, Expansión noted that only a limited share of devices in Mexico are 5G-compatible, a bottleneck that continues to weigh on adoption even as networks expand.

Infrastructure density is another challenge. While China has pushed nationwide deployment at a massive scale, Mexico’s tower infrastructure grew by just 0.07 % in 2024, according to MBN. That modest pace suggests that future gains in 5G quality and coverage may depend on more investment in densification technologies such as small cells and distributed antenna systems, especially as demand rises for faster data traffic and more reliable urban coverage.