Regional Spotlight – Northern America March 2026
The March 2026 edition of GSA’s Region Spotlight: Northern America highlights a mature and advanced telecom market. The region has started its transition away from legacy networks, with widespread 2G and 3G shutdowns enabling operators to focus on LTE and 5G network modernisation. LTE remains a core technology in use, but deployment has plateaued as operators focus on expanding their 5G services and coverage.
Northern America continues to demonstrate strong momentum in 5G, with 34 launched networks across the United States, Canada, Bermuda, Greenland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The region is accelerating toward 5G standalone, with 12 operators having launched at least one commercial 5G standalone network and operators in both the United States and Canada investing in 5G‑Advanced. These developments position the region to enable next‑generation capabilities including network slicing and ultralow-latency services.
Private mobile networks represent another area of regional leadership as Northern America accounts for 32% of the global total with strong uptake across manufacturing, education, research and defence. The United States is leading in this market with 506 private mobile deployments.
These developments coupled with growing activity in satellite‑to‑device partnerships and fixed wireless access reflect Northern America’s continued leadership in next-generation connectivity.
- The report provides a comprehensive overview of 4G and 5G deployments in Northern America, using the latest GSA data. It covers:
- The state of LTE and its ongoing role in mobile broadband.
- Progress of 5G, including 5G standalone and 5G-Advanced.
- Evolution of private networks and enterprise 5G adoption.
- Status of 2G and 3G switch-offs, which North America leads globally.
- Expansion of satellite networks and other emerging technologies.
- Adoption of fixed wireless access and deployment of services.
© GSA 2026
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Regional Spotlight – Northern America March 2026
