Generally, there’s a feeling that being first to 5G is a laudable and worthwhile goal. But is it really a “race” to 5G?

U.S. carriers don’t compete with Chinese or Korean carriers for their customers. Is this “race” just an obsession by the media or a situation manufactured by industry to prod lawmakers and regulators into giving them the spectrum and zoning rules that they want?  

An Analysys Mason report commissioned by CTIA and released last week showed that China holds a narrow lead in overall 5G readiness ahead of South Korea and the United States. But CTIA, doing its job, pointed out that there’s still time to correct the situation if policymakers in the U.S. act fast enough.  

Peter Jarich, head of GSMAi, the research and consulting unit of the GSMA, questioned whether it’s fair to compare the U.S. to China in the “race to 5G.”  

“We’re not competing with Korea. We’re not competing with China,” he said. For instance, one could argue that Europe has admitted to losing the race to 4G and therefore lost its position of power in mobility, but it still is home to two of the biggest infrastructure vendors.  

“To pitch this on just being late or early with the technology, I’m struggling, particularly going forward, how much that matters,” he said.