WASHINGTON—Some fearful observers claim China is way ahead in the 5G deployment race, and drastic measures, including a government-run 5G network, are needed for the United States to catch up. Yet these claims often stem from misleading comparisons of 5G deployment, according to anew reportreleased today by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy. When taken at face value, China’s 5G stats paint a distorted picture.
“China’s wireless infrastructure and subscriber numbers are not as impressive as they may first appear,” says Doug Brake, director or broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF and lead author of the report. “By counting anyone on a 5G plan as a 5G subscriber—even if they only have a 4G device connecting to 4G infrastructure—and by measuring individual base stations instead of cell sites, misreading China’s 5G stats could paint the wrong image. The 5G sky is not falling.”
The new ITIF report notes that Chinese mobile operators count 5G base stations, whereas U.S. operators report physical cell sites. As there are generally multiple base stations for each cell site or tower, conflating these numbers gives an inacurrate comparison. What’s more, a larger 5G network does not guarantee superior network performance—all else equal, China will need roughly 4.5 times as many cell sites as the United States to support its substantially larger population. Adjusting for population, the U.S. and China appear to be on an even pace in deploying 5G —one U.S. base station served 7,134 people in 2019, while one Chinese base covered fewer than 7,000 people in 2020.
“China’s 5G ambitions should not be underestimated. Its fast-tracking of network deployment demonstrates its commitment to the industries of the future,” adds Brake. “But accurate comparisons of deployment stats show there is little reason to panic. Policymakers and the media should view Chinese 5G claims with a grain of salt and continue to build on policies we know to work, with particular focus on freeing up more licensed mid-band spectrum.”
Read the report.
