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 Japan’s three major telecoms providers (NTT DOCOMO, KDDI, and Softbank) are all in the process of testing 5G technologies with the intention of launching in 2020 before the Olympics. All three companies are conducting trials in the sub-6 and mmWave ranges, and MIC has conducted a “5G System Trial” in Tokyo and rural Japan.

Rest of World (Non-US)

While China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan lead the field, the rest of the world is playing catch-up on 5G deployment. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France can be considered “second tier” 5G developers, while Singapore, Russia, and Canada make up the “third tier,” and the rest of the world comes after. These countries are beginning to auction off spectrum bandwidth with varying timelines and volume of spectrum made available, but many lack any formal policies or strategies to enable 5G implementation and most anticipate 5G launches outside of the 2020 timeframe.

Although Europe led the charge into 2G, it has since been hampered by regulations that have limited its ability to rapidly make spectrum bandwidth available, and has continued to lag behind in 3G, 4G, and now 5G. The rest of Asia has made some strides in 5G, but few countries have invested the same time and resources as China, Japan, and South Korea. Russia released its “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” in 2017 that included a 5G roadmap, but has yet to develop any clear spectrum plan or devote significant resources to that roadmap. Russia used the 2018 FIFA World Cup to launch some of its 5G efforts, but is still highly reliant on foreign 5G technologies and partnerships to move its 5G development forward.

Given the gap in 5G advancement between the first tier and everyone else, the rest of the world will likely be driven to implement the 5G network design and infrastructure of whichever country leads 5G. China is the current leader, and U.S. allies have taken different stances on how to respond to the Chinese drive to set 5G standards. Some are wary of Chinese influence because of security concerns and are actively working to push back on China’s 5G roll-out. For example, in December the Czech Republic’s cybersecurity agency (NUKIB) issued an official warning that Huawei and other Chinese companies posed a national security risk, citing existing Chinese statutes (National Intelligence Law, enacted June 27, 2017) that require Chinese companies to actively cooperate with the intelligence community. This has driven a security review throughout Czech public and private sectors, effectively halting all sales of Huawei 5G goods into the country. Australia and Poland have also taken a hard line against China, and the United States has been heavily pressuring its other allies to follow suit. DIB 5G Study