China, South Korea way ahead of US in 5G race: report

China and South Korea are way ahead of the US in the 5G race, according to research commissioned by C ellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), which represents the American wireless communications industry.
"The race to deploy tomorrow's 5G networks is on," says a CTIA release.

"China, Japan, South Korea and others are doing everything they can to win. That's clear from a recent Analysys Mason report, which found that China is currently leading the world in 5G readiness, with the US closely behind."
According to CTIA, with so many industries and communities standing to benefit from America winning the race to 5G, it's important that the country moves quickly to make it happen.

"We led the world in 4G and were rewarded for moving quickly," says the CTIA report. "In fact, America's 4G leadership added nearly $100 billion to our economy and brought significant economic and consumer benefits."

Surprisingly, India – one of the most vibrant mobile phone market in the world – did not figure in the Analysys Mason report. Besides the first three – China, South Korea and the US – the others included Japan, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Russia and Singapore.

The CTIA said it was important the US does "everything we can to maintain our wireless leadership. Because when we win the race to 5G, we all win."

America's wireless companies are ready to invest $275 billion into building 5G network infrastructure, said CTIA. "This will create three million new jobs and add $500 billion to the economy," it noted. "In fact, it's estimated that one out of every 100 Americans will benefit from a new 5G job."

It suggested various measures to be taken by the government to speed up America's switching over to the 5G sphere. "We need common sense policies to remain the global leader in wireless," it said.

These include freeing up more spectrum, modernising rules for wireless infrastructure and creating permanent federal regulations.

Analysys Mason ranked ten countries on their 5G readiness. The findings show China, South Korea, the United States and Japan as the lead competitors in that order. China's narrow lead is due to a combination of both proactive government policies and industry momentum. The study attributes the United States' high ranking to the fact that America's wireless industry is a global leader in preparing to deploy 5G commercially, with significant investments in these next-generation networks.

"The United States will not get a second chance to win the global 5G race," said Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA President and CEO. "I'm confident that America can win and reap the significant economic benefits of 5G wireless due to our world-leading commercial investments. Today's research highlights the importance of policymaker action in 2018 to reform local zoning rules and unlock access to mid-band spectrum as part of a broader spectrum pipeline plan. I'm optimistic we will leapfrog China because key leaders in the Administration, on Capitol Hill, and at the FCC are focused on the reforms needed to win the race."

In evaluating the current status of the global race to 5G, Analysys Mason studied 5G spectrum and infrastructure policies as well the commercial industry plans of ten countries.

• Countries around the world are moving quickly to make spectrum available for 5G. This year alone, the U.K., Spain, and Italy are all holding 5G spectrum auctions.

• At the end of 2018, the U.S. will rank sixth out of the 10 countries in mid-band (3–24GHz) spectrum availability, a critical band for 5G. The U.S. joins Russia and Canada as the only countries currently without announced plans to allocate mid-band spectrum on an exclusive basis to mobile by the end of 2020.

• Countries like the UK and regions like the European Union are taking significant steps to modernise infrastructure rules to facilitate the deployment of 5G networks.