The cost of civil engineering and permitting in China is approximately 15%-20% of the costs in the USA. In addition, the equipment necessary to add carrier in China is about 65% the cost of adding one in the USA. This may be one of the reasons why USA is lagging behind China in 5G Deployment, as argued in a report (“5G: The chance to lead for a decade”) by Deloitte published in august.

The report points out the progress of 5G deployment in USA compared to different countries. It shows that USA has only 4.7 network sites compared to 17.4 sites in Japan per 10,000 people, and has only 0.4 sites compared to 15.2 sites per 10 square miles.

The report urges policy makers to take actions for accelerating the 5G deployment, that seems to mark a new era and enable economic growth. The customers’ ability to access more data for the same or lower price is a potential benefit to other industries and the national economy.