China has set the pace for a 5G-centric stimulus program to help recover from the Covid-19 crisis. Its response to the pandemic was to accelerate roll-out targets for 5G networks, and it has now announced its wider infrastructure plan. It expects to invest more than RMB27.1 trillion ($3.78 trillion) in new infrastructure and related investments over the coming five years, according to Haitong Securities, with up to RMB3 trillion ($423bn) going on projects this year, including 5G networks, data centers, Industrial Internet, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and high-speed railways.
This is reminiscent of the USA’s New Deal of the 1930s, designed to aid recovery after the 1929 Wall Street crash and subsequent depression. The USA has embarked on similar New Deal-type programs since then, with telecoms increasingly part of the ‘national infrastructure’ – the most recent came after the 2008 banking crisis. This time, the country is expected to give 5G a central role in post-Covid stimulus initiatives, given its ‘5G race’ with China – which is sure to feature in the November election campaign.
Such plans have not yet been announced, but other countries are starting to discuss recovery plans and investments, and South Korea has announced a $62bn ‘New Deal’ that aims to create 550,000 jobs by 2022, 100,000 of them in 5G, AI and programming.