The 5G war sees the US way behind China

China is beating the US in the race to 5G. Both countries are aiming for the next step in fast communications but there is a huge gap in the number of cells built by each.

China has in fact built more than 350,000 cells since 2015, while the US has so far reached 30,000. The figures come from a study by Deloitte, which emphasizes how «5G makes possible the connection and interaction of billions of devices of almost any kind and collection of data from those devices», while not being a mere extension of 4G.

To reach its goal, China has outspent the US of about 24 billion dollars and its 5-year economic plan aims to invest 400 billion dollars just in the 5G sector.

5G, explains Deloitte, «will enable a new era of connecting machines, with the value of these connections being in the data interchange between them. While US companies are generally well positioned now, a slow rollout of these connected devices will impact the sustainability of their competitive position».

Other countries racing for 5G are South Korea and Japan, all with significant improvements but behind the two major competitors. Japan, however, has the biggest concentration of sites, percentually: it boasts 17.4 for every 10,000 inhabitants and 15.2 per 10 square miles. They compare to the 4.7/0.4 of the US and 14.1/5.3 for China.