Countries must step up their efforts to facilitate the 5G era by backing more supportive policies, according to a new GTI study, produced in collaboration with the GSMA.  

The Report, ‘Supportive Policies for a Sustainable Mobile Industry in the 5G Era’, calls for governments to play their part in helping operators overcome the new challenges they are facing. These include the high costs incurred by the demands for more spectrum; the heavy financial barriers to network deployment; collaboration with diverse vertical industries as well as national broadband strategies and regulations.

By 2025, 5G will account for 20 per cent of global connections, with take-up particularly strong across developed Asia, North America and Europe. To support this growth, operators are expected to invest around $1.1 trillion worldwide over the next five years in mobile capex, roughly 80 per cent of which will be in 5G networks.

"5G will play a foundation role in the era of intelligent connectivity, supporting economic growth, transforming businesses and delivering innovative new services." commented Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of GTI. “There are, however, challenges facing the mobile industry in 5G\'s rollout and commercialization. We are happy to see proactive policies on national broadband strategy, spectrum prices, tax measures, supporting innovation and facilitation of infrastructure deployments, have been introduced in 5G pioneering countries. We believe government’s support is vital to the success of 5G and to benefit the whole of society."

“Governments are essential partners for the mobile industry, facilitating the right conditions for operators to make the necessary investments in 5G and propel its commercial use,” said John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. “As 5G pioneering countries have shown us, more supportive policies are key to 5G enabling the digital transformation of societies and economies. 5G technologies are expected to contribute $2.2 trillion to the global economy between 2024 and 2034, but only if policymakers play their part”.  

In the Report, several recommendations from the national plans of 5G pioneering countries are reviewed, including those from China, Finland, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. Based on the learnings from 5G national plans, the report highlights the following elements for countries deploying 5G networks:

· More exclusive spectrum assigned to mobile operators at more reasonable prices;

· Lower taxes and tax reliefs to stimulate 5G investments

· Positioning 5G as a critical enabler for national broadband ambitions;

· Policies to encourage innovation and industrial collaboration; and

· Facilitate access to public infrastructure to accelerate 5G deployments.

The report, ‘Supportive Policies for a Sustainable Mobile Industry in the 5G Era’ is available in English here.

Click here for downloading

About GTI

GTI was founded in 2011 as a TDD camp to construct a robust ecosystem of TD-LTE and promote the convergence of LTE TDD/FDD. As 4G evolves to 5G, GTI 2.0 was launched in 2016 aimed to propel 4G evolution and 5G development, and to foster a cross-industry innovative and synergistic 5G ecosystem. Today GTI has become one of the most influential global cooperation platforms with 136 operators and 237 partners.

For more information, please visit the GTI website at www.gtigroup.org

or contact the Secretariat at admin@gtigroup.org 

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.