Building a slide deck, pitch, or presentation? Here are the big takeaways:

  • China is experiencing a surge in 5G, while the US does not yet have spectrum available. — Mobile Experts, 2018
  • Outside of China, sub-6 GHz deployment is likely at large scale in areas including Japan, Korea, and northern Europe. — Mobile Experts, 2018

China is experiencing a surge in 5G, while the US does not yet have spectrum available, according to a new report from Mobile Experts.

“We see a massive surge in 5G coming in China below 5 GHz,” said Mobile Experts principal analyst Kyung Mun. “It will be followed by a more incremental rise in other countries around the world. Using our GkM traffic density model and some rigorous ROI analysis, we have demonstrated just how this will happen, and where the growth of 5G will be dissimilar to LTE.”

Outside of China, sub-6 GHz deployment is likely at large scale in areas including Japan, Korea, and northern Europe, the report stated. The US, meanwhile, will follow once it has spectrum available. Central and southern Europe and the rest of the world will be slow to follow, according to the report.

SEE: Mobile device computing policy (Tech Pro Research)

Once commercially available, 5G is poised to revolutionize computing across a number of industries, including energy, manufacturing, and healthcare. Previous reports stated that the Middle East and North African region was poised to be first in the world to launch commercial 5G networks, according to GSMA.

Investing in and building a 5G network will generate $533 billion in US gross domestic product and $1.2 trillion in long-run consumer benefits from these broadband wireless services, according to a report from the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research. However, this payout will only be possible if service providers make massive upgrades to current mobile service infrastructure, which require state and local governments to take steps to streamline regulations and encourage deployment, the report noted.

5G remote radio head (RRH) shipments are predicted to increase from less than 200,000 worldwide in 2018 to more than 1.1 million in 2025, the Mobile Experts report found.

The integration of Massive MIMO with passive antennas will be key to achieve small size in the RRH, according to Mobile Experts. Deploying a separate active antenna/radio unit will not be ideal, particularly in markets with leased towers, where the additional lease space could cost thousands of dollars per month, the report stated.

“The radio configuration has not settled down yet,” Mobile Experts chief analyst Joe Madden said in a press release. “We see variations ranging from 4T4R to 1024T1024R, at multiple power levels and in multiple bands. That’s a lot of fragmentation, but we have been able to identify … a few choices that will emerge from the confusion.”