The US is falling behind in the 5G race, with China and South Korea ahead in the game, according to research by Analysys Mason commissioned by the US mobile industry group CTIA. The report comes as the CTIA holds a summit in Washington DC with policymakers to underline the need for more regulatory support to make the US a leader in 5G.
The report ranked ten countries on their 5G readiness and found China has a narrow lead over South Korea and the US. All major Chinese providers have committed to specific launch dates for 5G, and the government has committed to at least 100 MHz of mid-band spectrum and 2,000 MHz of high-band spectrum for each provider. The US is lagging in areas such as allocation of mid-band spectrum, the report found, with no announced plans to set aside frequencies in the 3-24 GHz range for mobile. The researchers expect the US will rank only sixth in mid-band 5G spectrum allocation at the end of the year.
To bolster its case for being a leader in 5G, the CTIA also presented research from Recon Analytics showing how the US's lead in 4G contributed to jobs and economic growth. Winning the race to 4G boosted US GDP by nearly USD 100 billion and the 4G launch spurred an 84 percent increase in wireless-related jobs, the report claims. At the same time, Europe and Japan suffered long-term job losses and industry contractions due to the slow debut of LTE.
Another industry group, 5G Americas has also just published a white paper with recommendations for US spectrum allocation. It noted that most of the 5G trials in the US to date have focused on high spectrum, or the mmWave bands. However, 5G services will require a wide range of frequencies, across low, mid and high bands, to be successful, the group said, and its report offers detailed recommendations for each type of spectrum. It will host a global symposium on 5G progress in Austin, Texas in May.
