Technology wars waged in the name of national pride are an unwelcome distraction from the real socio-economic potential of 5G, and pressurize operators to make ill-conceived roll-out decisions to please their governments. But they are a fact of the 5G landscape, and though the USA may have been the first major economy to boast commercial 5G networks, in most other respects China is way ahead – in the scale and pace of its planned deployments; in the breadth of use cases it is bringing to market; in its vendors’ share of the patents base and the early contracts. Even Qualcomm – with Cisco and Intel, the USA’s biggest claim to be a 5G technology powerhouse – acknowledged China’s pre-eminence during…