Why is spectrum important? 5G has the potential to support significantly faster mobile broadband speed, enable new businesses including Internet of things, VR/AR, etc. For 5G to reach its full potential, spectrum access is critical. The speed and quality of 5G services rely on access to the right type and right amount of spectrum for mobile operators.

However, not all spectrum are created equal. Broadly speaking, two groups of spectrums are emerging as the key to 5G deployment around the world: Sub-6 and mmWave. 

• Sub-6: Spectrum below 6GHz. Spectrum below 6GHz are crucial to support most 5G use scenarios as it provides a balanced solution between coverage and capacity. 3.5GHz band has gathered near global momentum and has already been licensed in several countries with more on the way. 

• mmWave: high-frequency bands above 6GHz. The mmWave band will be essential for providing additional capacity and delivering extremely high data rates required by some applications. However, there is one critical issue with mmWave, it does not travel far enough from the cell site, and can easily be blocked by walls, doors, or even human bodies. This is best illustrated by the GIF (must watch) made by T-Mobile's CTO Neville Ray, showing mmWave frequencies blocked by a closing door while the lower band remained unaffected.

• To reach the full potential of 5G, operators will have to rely on both for wide coverage and the high data rate at the same time.

The planned spectrum are a bit different between different countries, and the US is lagging in the Sub-6 GHz. While the U.S. focused more on mmWave in the beginning, all the other regions started with the critical 3.5GHz-5GHz band. The chart below shows the current state of global 5G deployment. 

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