The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is making good progress with 5G deployment, with government backing being a significant factor in how quickly a country can become 5G-ready as of 2021.
According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) research across 16 APAC nations, nine markets have either completed 5G spectrum auctions or launched commercial 5G services, with some even crossing the 50% mark in terms of 5G coverage as of March this year.

Government funding was critical in supporting 5G networks and permitting trials for industrial uses.
Laveena Iyer, Research Analyst, EIU, said iTNews Asia in an interview: “Prior to a launch, having a comprehensive nationwide 5G roadmap is very helpful for operators. After a commercial launch government support in the form of tax incentives, low-cost loans, direct investment helps operators as they work on network expansion.”
Government funding was critical in supporting 5G networks and permitting trials for industrial uses.
Laveena Iyer, Research Analyst, EIU, said iTNews Asia in an interview: “Prior to a launch, having a comprehensive nationwide 5G roadmap is very helpful for operators. After a commercial launch government support in the form of tax incentives, low-cost loans, direct investment helps operators as they work on network expansion.”
She added that the assistance has also spurred businesses to improve network speeds, coverage, and the number of use cases for the commercial sector.
In 5G, who is ahead and who is not?

South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and China are the most advanced in 5G; Thailand is making good progress; and India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan fall behind their regional rivals in terms of 5G policy implementation, having yet to develop one.
In some of these countries, operators are still focused on enhancing 4G connectivity, thus any progress on 5G is unlikely before 2022.
“A country’s ability to progress to 5G will largely depend on existing network infrastructure. Mature markets such as South Korea and Australia already had an over 90% 4G coverage. But Malaysia and the Philippines still clock under 80% in terms of 4G network coverage so operators in these countries will not be able to launch a 5G network until early 2022,” explained Iyer.
Looking ahead to 2021, she anticipates that different markets in the APAC area will pursue quite different goals, and that 5G adoption would be uneven.
“On one hand countries such as Japan and Taiwan are moving towards expanding 5G network coverage beyond major cities and improving network speed. On the other hand, in India and Indonesia, operators still await a nationwide 5G policy, certainty over contiguous blocks of 5G spectrum, final decision on the base price, etc. The disparity over progress in 5G will continue to be seen in Asia during this year.”
Reference:
Tan, 2021. Is 5G primed to take off? Nine of 16 Asian countries are now 5G-ready. Lighthouse Independent Media. Retrieved from: https://www.itnews.asia/news/is-5g-primed-to-take-off-nine-of-16-asian-countries-are-now-5g-ready-564018
Fogg, 2021. Benchmarking the 5G Experience – Asia Pacific – June 2021. Opensignal Limited. Retrieved from: https://www.opensignal.com/2021/06/14/benchmarking-the-5g-experience-asia-pacific-june-2021
Very informative. Thank you for sharing!
This information is helpful!
Thanks for sharing
thanks for sharing this blog!
Thanks, for such a great post. I found it really helpful. I always prefer to read quality content like this.
Thank you for the information, very comprehensive! Good job
Very interesting blog! Thank you, author <33
On a scale from 1 to 10, your content blog is 11! Thank you, author!
This was very helpful and very informative, thanks
This blog is very accurate and informative. All the legit information are here. Thank you for sharing.
Great idea!
Wow! Very interesting and informative article. Thank you for sharing!
A very helpful and detailed article. A lot of interesting points was shared and I’m very excited to have more updates with this. Two thumbs up with this one. Great Job author! Keep it up. ❤️
very helpful, thanks for sharing!
VERY HELPFUL!! THANKS FOR SHARING !!
This is very helpful! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this! This is a big help.
Great idea! This blog is very accurate and informative.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for the info
Wow! I say thats a pretty helpful article.
Very informative!
A great information was shared and noted. Thank you!
Thank you for the information 💚
Thank you for the information 💚 Great idea
𝚃𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙺𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂. 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚈 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙶𝙾𝙳𝙹𝙾𝙱 !
I’m excited for this project! Please keep us updated🤍🤗
Thank you for this! This is a great idea!
This blog is very informative. Thank you for sharing.
Great idea! This blog is very accurate and informative.
Hoping this innovation continues swiftly. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the info! Interesting content.
thank you for this, this is helpful.
i am not yet using this kind of network but thank you author , I might try this next time it looks amazing and it can really help us to make easier and faster our connectivity especially when it comes to our study.
Very informative. Looking forward to a better internet connection here in the Philippines. Although I hope the government will also consider working on network expansion even in secluded areas since new normal would likely revolve around internet connectivity.
Informative and relevant article. Good job!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing
OH MY SO HELPFUL
OH MY SO HELPFUL wow
Thank you for the information.
Wow interesting!
Wow this is good!
wow this is an informative blog
Very informative. Keep up the good work!
The news title or the headline is very interesting, catchy and engaging to readers. The content and information are well-elaborated! Informative article!
Thank you for the info! This is very helpful in my studies.
Very informative, thanks for sharing!
Great blog. Thanks for the info!
Helpful.
Good job! Very informative.
Very informative!
This was a great blog. It really give me informations. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Great vlog and very informative!
Thank you for this amazing blog! Keep going!
Wow very informative blog! Hope this info will help me gain more knowledge
Very helpful and informative.
Thanks for sharing
Great Idea
Your blog is very informative! Thanks for sharing
Im looking forward for the 5G
Very informative!
Very Informative. Thanks for the insight ☺️
Good job thank you for sharing….
a comprehensive blog!
thank you, this is very informative:)
Thank you for sharing this information.
Thank you for this information.
Thanks for sharing , cant wait for this
Very informative! Thanks for sharing
Great blog. Keep it up.