Availability of 5G by country

Telstra began its 5G service in areas of Sydney and Melbourne in May 2019 with plans to roll out the service to other cities in the coming years.[1] Optus has also switched on 5G in limited areas, and are currently expanding their 5G network across Australia. Vodafone's 5G network is expected to go live in mid-2020.[2]

Argentina expects deployment of 5G around the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 according to some reports[3] or in 2021 or 2022 according to a different estimate.[4] In late 2017, a lab test of a 5G system achieved a download speed of 20 Gbit/s.[5]

Initial showcase of 5G network was demonstrated to reach 2.2 Gbit/s in February 2018 by the local telecommunication provider A1. The operator received license for a 5G frequency in 2019 and test implementation with 5G equipment by Nokia was first demonstrated. Availability for the end users is expected in 2020.[6]

The government of Canada announced a planned roll out of 5G in 2019. An auction for the 5G spectrum had been expected in 2020, a decision on a higher frequency spectrum in 2021, and a new frequency proposal by 2022. The government has committed to an investment of $199 million over the course of five years in order to modernize spectrum equipment; wireless operators are expected to invest $26 billion, and have already invested $17.6 billion.[7][8] The roll out will be location based, with initial availability decisions being based on the type of community—city, urban, or rural. Among other benefits, the 5G network is expected to help connect Canada's under-served rural communities.[9] It is currently undecided as to whether or not Canada will use Huawei products as part of their infrastructure. Both Bell and Telus have decided not to use Huawei equipment, they have selected Nokia and Ericsson for their 5G builds.[10]

On June 24, 2020, SaskTel announced that it will not use Huawei equipment for its 5G services, citing a desire to remain uniform with its roaming partners of Bell and Telus (which both chose Ericsson as supplier).[11]

The first commercial launch was by Rogers in January 2020, starting in the Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver metro areas.[12] On June 11, 2020, Bell launched beginning in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver;[13] and Telus followed on June 18, 2020, with a launch starting in the sames cities as Bell.[14]

[8]

Discount prepaid carriers such as Public Mobile and Chatr aren't expected to upgrade to 5G for a number of years.[15]

China has launched its 5G national network and started commercial operation on November 1, 2019. At launch, Chinese state media called it the world's largest 5G network.[16][17]

Finland held an auction for 5G spectrum in 2018. In this the three telecom operators Elisa, DNA and Telia all won a license to use the 3.5 GHz spectrum for 5G networks. As of March 3, 2020, all three have commercial network in few cities, Elisa operating in most (11 cities), but all three are expanding their coverage throughout 2020.

Germany held an auction for 5G spectrum in June 2019. The winning companies are committed to providing 5G coverage to 98% of households by 2022.[18]

Greece will begin 5G service at the end of 2020 or in early 2021.[21]

Hong Kong held an auction for 5G spectrum in October 2019, with a total of 200 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band auctioned off to four mobile network operators at a total of HK$1.006 billion. The operators are China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK), Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), Hutchison Telecom, and SmarTone.[22]

On April 1, 2020, three operators including CMHK, HKT, and Hutchison officially launched their 5G services and tariff plans to the public.[23][24][25]

On February 23, 2018, Bharti Airtel and Chinese multinational telecom gear Huawei have successfully conducted India's first 5G network trial under a test setup at the former's network experience centre in Manesar, Gurugram.[30] However, the Indian government is looking to ban Huawei from future 5G spectrum auctions due to security reasons. In response, Airtel made a statement stating that it may look for alternatives for 5G as it no longer wishes to continue with Huawei infrastructures.[31][32] Nevertheless, Huawei urged the Department of Telecom to make an independent decision on 5G rollout.[33][34] Huawei, further said that it won't invest more if government denies permission for 5G auctions. The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Ravesh Kumar, said that the Indian government will take a call on this issue. A Telecom Committee is all-set to look up on this matter, from various ministries and departments. Whatever fits in economic and security interest, the committee will decide on this.[35]

In August 2019, the Chinese government increased its pressure on India not to ban Huawei, indicating it could retaliate against Indian companies doing business in China.[36] While Australia and the United Kingdom have expressed their concerns over cyber security of India.[37] Australian national security and cyber officials have also warned India over security threats of Huawei.[38][39] In Indian Economic Summit 2019, Wilbur Ross said that the U.S. hopes that India "does not inadvertently subject itself to untoward security risk" by using 5G equipment from the Chinese tech giant and mentioned that India should take its own decision on Huawei.[40] The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued, white paper press statement stating that 5G is set to transform communication networks and will bring massive growth in Indian economy by 2021.[41][42] TRAI has also ordered telecom companies to identify specific use causes for 5G launch.[43]

In August 2019, Vodafone Ireland switched on 5G connectivity in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford cities initially, with a view to expanding its network over time.[53]

Eir switched on 100 sites across 10 towns and cities during October 2019 with plans to add another 100 sites by the end of the year. Telecom Imagine offers fixed 5G broadband in mostly rural areas of the country which do not have fibre broadband.[52]

Service availability was planned to be provided before July 2020.

SoftBank: was to be first in Japan to launch 5G services, on March 27. Offering test services for the Japanese national basketball team's reinforced match held at Saitama Super Arena on August 22.

KDDI(au): had developed a mechanism to be used for security at venues linked to drones (small unmanned aerial vehicles) and robot cameras. A test service is scheduled to start after autumn. Rakuten: The new telecom joins with 5G.

Mexico could begin 5G service in 2021, according to José Otero, director for Latin America and the Caribbean of 5G Américas.[62][63][64]

On July 9, 2019, Monaco Telecom launched its 5G network covering the entire city area in conjunction with the presentation of the commercial offer, using only Huawei equipment.[65][66][67]

Auctions of spectrum for 5G in the 700, 1400 and 2100 MHz bands is to be completed by June 30, 2020, from which the Dutch government expects to earn 900 million euros.[68][69] Auctions for the 3.5 and 29 GHz bands are to follow between then and 2020.[68] The later timing for 3.5 GHz is because the Dutch government must move a ground satellite system that would interfere with 5G to a new location.[69] Testing of 5G technology has been permitted since 2018.[68]

After early 5G trials in August 2019, Vodafone NZ launched its 5G service in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown on December 10, 2019, with plans to roll out the service to other cities in 2020.[70] Vodafone has partnered with Nokia to provide 5G.

In Norway, the first 5G-test was done in 2017.[71] Telenor launched 5G in Elverum in September 2019,[72] planning to launch in Trondheim soon after.[73][74] Competitor Ice claimed to be ready for 5G in Oslo and Akershus, Drammen, Bergen, Fredrikstad, Sarpsborg, Stavanger og Sandnes, Trondheim, Skien, Porsgrunn and Kristiansand in November 2019.[75] Telia plan to start their 5G network in 2020, with full national coverage by 2023.[76]

On August 22, 2019, Zong became the first network to test 5G in Pakistan. The tests were conducted by Pakistani telecom company Zong along with Chinese telecom gear company Huawei at Zong's headquarters in Islamabad.[77][78][79] On January 6, 2020, Zong claimed that it had successfully completed South Asia's first official 5G video call.[80]

Telenor Pakistan is also working on implementing 5G in Pakistan.[81]

Jazz, Pakistan's largest network in terms of registered users, also successfully conducted 5G tests using Huawei equipment on January 4, 2020 in Islamabad.[82] According to officials, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority allotted Jazz with a trial spectrum of 100 MHz from 2600 MHz band for its 5G network for six months which is extendable. As a result, the company successfully integrated a 5G site to its network, where the live testing of the 5G equipment was showcased to the media. Currently, Jazz is authorized to conduct public trials of its 5G network at five locations in Islamabad: F8, G7, E7, and some areas of Blue Area.[83]

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority hopes 5G will be available in Pakistan by 2021.[84] The commercial launch of 5G in Pakistan is currently dependent on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority agreeing a regulatory and policy framework, which has yet to be finalized. But trials conducted by Jazz, and Zong indicate that operators have done their part.[85] However, due to recent economic recession, 4G services haven't been able to scale at a reasonable rate by operators who feel financially squeezed. This could delay the commercial launch of 5G in Pakistan. Currently, PTA has granted permission to PMCL (Jazz) and CMPak (Zong) for six months to conduct test and trial of 5G technology under limited environment.[86]

Panama plans to begin rolling out 5G in 2020–2021 using Huawei equipment for all infrastructure.[90][91]

5G in the Philippines started in 2016 when Smart Communications tested 5G and recorded a speed of 2.5 Gbit/s and 14.97 Gbit/s in its Technolab test in 2018, laying the groundwork for 5G infrastructure in the country.[92]

Globe Telecom started offering 5G services in the Philippines since July 2019, making Philippines the first country to roll out 5G network in Southeast Asia,[93][94] and third in Asia after South Korea and Japan.[93] Huawei being Globe Telecom's long time partner ensures that the Philippines will be ahead of other countries in developing its 5G spectrum.

The country's largest telecom PLDT is also planning to roll out its 5G services in the 4th quarter of 2019 tapping Nokia and Finland's Erricson as their technology provider but was delayed. Recently, PLDT CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan announced he is tapping Huawei to provide 5G network in the first quarter of 2020.[95] The telco titan forged a partnership with the Araneta Group to launch 5G technology in Araneta City, which will be transformed into the country's first Smart 5G Lifestyle Hub.[96] Local telecoms are also ramping up their 5G infrastructure investment through the help of other 5G technology providers.

State-owned Exatel was the first company to conduct the test of 5G connectivity in Poland in 2017.[97] In December 2018, T-Mobile launched first 5G tests in Warsaw with hardware from Huawei, and Katowice and Orange Polska in Gliwice.[98] In March 2019, Orange Polska together with Ericsson launched test in Zakopane, followed by Warsaw in September and together with Nokia in Lublin in October of the same year. In July 2019, Play launched another tests in Toruń and Grójec, using hardware from Huawei. In October 2019, T-Mobile launched an experimental 5G installation in Kraków. The network created together with Nokia was activated in the headquarters of hub:raum innovation center. Its signal was available only inside the building for the T-Mobile business partners and startups cooperating with the innovation centre.[99]

Play will be the first carrier to offer commercial 5G network in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot from January 2020.[100]

On January 3, 2020, Cyfrowy Polsat, owner of Plus, began 5G roll-out in seven cities.[101]

In 2020 the auction will be held by The Office of Electronic Communications to allocate further frequencies for 5G.[102]

Starting May 2019, Vodafone Romania offer 5G connectivity in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Mamaia.[104]

DIGI | RCS & RDS and Ericsson go live with 5G mobile service in Romania since June 2019 [105]

Orange Romania switches on 5G network in November 2019 and has become the first country within the Orange S.A. Group to commercially launch 5G [106]

In June 2019, "Huawei signed a deal with Russia's largest telecoms operator MTS to develop 5G technologies and launch a fifth-generation network in Russia within the next year."[107]

San Marino is covered by the 5G network of TIM San Marino using telecommunications infrastructures produced by Nokia; however, no commercial offer is available yet (July 2019).[108]

Telecoms operators Singtel and a joint venture between StarHub and M1 have been selected to build and operate the 5G networks in Singapore. Standalone 5G networks are expected to roll out from January 2021, with nationwide coverage by the end of 2025.[109] On 24 June Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran said that Singapore was on track to offer nationwide 5G coverage by 2025.[110]

Rain, one of the smaller telecommunication players in South Africa, launched 5G in September 2019, to be used as a home internet service.[111]

Vodacom, one of South Africa's biggest mobile telecommunication networks, launched their commercial 5G services in May 2020.[112]

By the middle of June 2019, South Korea had over one million 5G subscribers.[113]

Vodafone announced the 5G service in June 2019, in 15 cities in Spain for four cell phones types: Madrid, Barcelona, La Coruña, Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga, Zaragoza, Vitoria, San Sebastian, Vigo, Pamplona, Gijón, Logroño and Santander.[114][115] The deployment should be completed for these cities in 2021, and the whole country should have coverage by 2025.[114]

Sweden plans to begin rolling 5G services out sometime in 2020.[116] Tele2 launched the first commercial 5G network in Stockholm on May 24 2020.

Taiwan is aiming for service availability by June 2020, according to Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai.[117] In June 2019, the American tech company Qualcomm started construction on a 5G center in Taipei.[118]

Thailand held an auction for 5G spectrum on February 16, 2020.[119] On February 24, 2020, AIS announced the official launch of the First 5G service Commercial in Thailand.[120][121] On March 17, 2020, TrueMove H has become Thailand's second operator to launch commercial 5G services after receiving its 2.6GHz spectrum licence.[122][123]

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on May 17, 2019 to launch 5G in Ukraine in 2020.[128] Vodafone Ukraine confirmed plans to launch 5G communication tests in late 2019.[129]

Telecom subscribers in the UAE will be able to enjoy 5G services as both etisalat and du are ready to roll out the service for consumers by the end of March. Impeccable sources said both telecom service providers are ready to launch 5G services for general subscribers as soon as 5G-enabled devices will be available in the market by next month. They said the 5G network of etisalat and du is ready but couldn't be launched as vendors and smartphone manufacturers have yet to unveil 5G-enabled devices in the market.[130]

The four major US carriers have announced plans to deploy 5G in 2019, beginning with major metropolitan areas. On July 31, Atlanta became the first city to have it available from all four carriers.[135]

Both T-Mobile and AT&T launched low-band services on the first week of December 2019. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray warns that speeds on their 600 MHz 5G may be as low as 25 Mbit/s down.[136] AT&T, using 850 MHz, will also usually deliver less than 100 Mbit/s in 2019. The performance will improve, but cannot be significantly greater than robust 4G in the same spectrum.

Verizon, AT&T, and almost all 5G providers in 2019 have latencies between 25–35 milliseconds. The "air latency" (between a phone and a tower) in 2019 equipment is 8–12 ms. The latency to the server, farther back in the network, raise the average to ~30 ms, 25–40% lower than typical 4G deployed. Adding "Edge Servers" close to the towers can bring latency down to 10–20 ms. Lower latency, such as the often touted 1 ms, is years away and does not include the time to the server.

In June 2019, Senators John Thune and Brian Schatz introduced the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act (S. 1699), a proposal to limit local government involvement in the location of 5G equipment.[139] The bill was referred to committee, but never voted upon.[140]

On March 27, 2019, Senator John Cornyn introduced the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020 (S. 893), a bill that would require the President to develop a security strategy in regards to 5G and other next generation telecommunications systems and infrastructure.[141][142] President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on March 23, 2020.[143]

Uruguay state-owned operator Antel with vendor Nokia announced the first 5G commercial network in Latin America in April 2019.[144]

Viettel was handed the country's first licence to trial 5G in January 2019 and tests were launched in Hanoi in cooperation with Swedish vendor Ericsson in May. The test permit is valid for one year until January 21, 2020 and allows the firm to trial the technology in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The military-owned company, which plans to launch commercial 5G services in 2020, announced that data connection speeds ranged from 1.5 Gbit/s to 1.7 Gbit/s. A third cellco, MobiFone, is expected to test 5G in Hanoi, Hai Phong and Da Nang.[145] On September 17, 2019, Viettel started installation of 5G testing infrastructure, which was eventually released on September 20.

Oreedoo claims all major cities are covered by 5G network. Vodafone Qatar also offers 5G.