China pulls ahead of US in 5G race despite trade war, Huawei blacklisting
- Chinese mobile operators are moving ahead on the back of virtually free airwaves and cheap 5G network equipment
- Telecoms gear suppliers Huawei and ZTE have also established a lead in 5G tech patents
In the race for technology supremacy, China is betting it can seize the lead by building the world’s biggest 5G wireless networks.
To get there, the country is banking on the might of the one-party state, making sure its state-run carriers have access to cheap airwaves and fast, inexpensive approvals for putting up the hundreds of thousands of base stations the fastest wireless technology requires.
As top mobile carriers elsewhere flinch at the cost of building 5G wireless networks, China’s operators are barrelling ahead on the government’s mandate, virtually free airwaves and equipment at less than half the price US carriers are paying. Being the first to reach massive scale with next-generation networks could also help the nation in its ambition to dominate fields such as factory automation, robotics and autonomous driving.
“5G is a foundation and catalyst for reinventing industries,” said Paul Lee, UK-based head of research for technology, media and telecommunications at Deloitte Consulting. “The fundamental benefit of being the first mover is that you can build business models on the back of that and export them to other countries.”
South Korea’s wireless carriers were the first to offer commercial 5G services, with SK Telecom launching its network in April and Samsung Electronics already offering a 5G-enabled smartphone. But while US carriers in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago have started providing 5G, it is in sheer scale where China is on course to edge ahead over the next five years.
That size advantage is also reflected in China’s push to invent 5G technology.