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China’s 5G network investments to grow rapidly, eclipsing buildout in North America
- Forecasters predict China will spend up to US$218 billion on 5G between 2020 and 2025
- The country is expected to have 460 million 5G connections by the end of 2025, China Internet Report says
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Li Taoin Shenzhen
China’s 5G network investments are predicted to surpass those in North America between 2019 and 2023, as the world’s second largest economy rapidly shifts from 4G to the next-generation mobile technology amid trade tensions with the United States.
Total spending on 5G in China will be “more than twice the size” of North America’s next-generation network investments over that period, according to a report on Wednesday by Dell’Oro Group, without providing these figures. Founded in 1995, US-based Dell’Oro is a leading independent market research firm for the telecommunications industry.
That pace of 5G expenditure in China marks the country’s attempt to move ahead in the global race to roll out ultra-fast, next-generation telecoms networks that will help power the industrial internet, autonomous driving and smart cities.
Initial commercial 5G mobile services have already been rolled out in South Korea, the US, Australia, the UK, Switzerland and Spain. Still, the scale of China’s market is likely to dwarf the combined size of those economies, negating any first-mover advantage.
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