Advertisement

China set to build the planet’s largest 5G mobile network for US$180b

The mainland's spending on 5G infrastructure will be nearly four times larger than nearest Asian competitor Japan over a seven-year period.

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
People browse their smartphones in Beijing. Jefferies predicts the mainland will have 588 million 5G subscribers by 2022. Photo: AP

Total spending on 5G infrastructure by mainland China’s three telecommunications network operators is forecast to reach up to US$180 billion over a seven-year period, dwarfing their estimated US$117 billion investment in 4G from 2013 to 2020.

That would represent about a 48 per cent increase in total capital expenditure by China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom from their combined outlay on 4G, said Jefferies equity analyst Edison Lee.

It would also surpass spending in Japan, where the total 5G outlay was forecast to hit US$46 billion over the same seven-year mobile technology cycle. Japan is the world's second-largest market for information technology goods and services behind the United States, according to Forrester Research

Advertisement

“The impact of 5G on innovative consumer and business services on the mainland will be significant, as all three telecommunications network operators will likely build out aggressively from 2019,” Lee said.

The impact of 5G on innovative consumer and business services on the mainland will be significant
Edison Lee, equity analyst, Jefferies

As the latest advance in mobile communications, 5G denotes a new era in which networks will adapt to applications, and performance will be tailored precisely to the needs of the user, according to global telecommunications trade body the GSM Association.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x