The 5G roll-out is as much about fiber as wireless. Nokia executives have often said that 5G is a wireline network as well as a cellular one, and the company has supported that view by abandoning a previous strategy to focus only on mobile broadband, and invest heavily in wireline technologies courtesy of the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent. Ownership of fiber, or affordable access to it, is critical to the 5G business case. One reason why Japanese operators can move rapidly and boast of far lower capex levels than most of their counterparts elsewhere is the fiber situation. Market leader NTT Docomo says it has invested steadily over recent years in upgrading and expanding its fiber – to support enhanced backhaul,…