China Leapfrogging US in Introduction of 5G Tech - CTIA

According to the association representing the wireless communications industry in the United States, China and South Korea are already catching up with the US in the introduction of 5G technology.

The US National Security Council also warns that if the People’s Republic achieves a dominant position in the telecommunications business, this would also amount to a political, economic and military victory.

The introduction of 5G technology has hit a snag in the form of a lack of medium frequencies 4G, Wi-Fi and others operate on, with 5G operators told to use high frequencies instead.

The problem is, however, that with the absence of a network infrastructure, the whole system will have to be created from the ground up.

Because the US has always been at the forefront of the introduction of new generation networks, it now fears that it could lose its leadership, Chinese IT expert Liu Xingliang told Sputnik.

“The 5G can be used in many areas because it’s fast. 3G was faster that 2G and 4G is faster than 3G. 5G will certainly be much faster than 4G. Secondly, latency is way shorter than what we have with 4G. Long delay is exactly the reason for the recent incident with an Uber taxicab which ran over a man. The radars on self-driven cars scan the situation on the road and transmit the obtained data to a terminal where it is processed and sent back in the form of commands, such as an emergency break. In the case of the Uber taxi, the ‘break’ command came too late,” he said.

“Thirdly, 5G is more energy efficient, has better coverage and is available virtually everywhere,” Liu added.

The new 5G network will be a whole ecosystem of Internet of things, such as smart cars, refrigerators, televisions, vacuum cleaners and even toilet bowls. 

The system will be generating and exchanging a wealth of data which, when analyzed, will help improve self-driven vehicles, “smart cities” and artificial intelligence.

China has set itself the task of becoming a world leader in the field of IT – and 5G will certainly help it achieve this goal.

During the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, China’s Huawei unveiled its first 5G commercial client terminal, CPE. ZTE has presented a series of new generation 5G base stations.

Liu Xingliang believes that ZTE’s scientific breakthroughs are exactly the reason behind Washington’s recent sanctions against the Chinese company.

In 2016, the United States restricted the sale of parts or provision of services by American companies to ZTE until 2025, after Washington accused the company of violating US sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

According to him, before the end of next year, China will be all set to launch a commercial 5G service with the entire network slated to go on-stream in 2020.

Fifth-generation wireless, or 5G, is the latest iteration of cellular technology, engineered to greatly increase the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks. With 5G, data transmitted over wireless broadband connections could travel at rates as high as 20 Gbps, exceeding wireline network speeds as well as offer latency of 1 millisecond or lower for uses that require real-time feedback.

5G will also enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology.