Governments, if you want 5G sharing, don't do what South Korea's doing!
Lots of governments around the world want their country to be first when it comes to deploying 5G. Network sharing might help that since it could make 5G faster and cheaper to deploy. The government in South Korea is reportedly planning to mandated the country's telcos to cooperate over 5G. This isn't likely to help South Korean win any race. Other governments should take note.
The South Korean government's plan is described in this article by Joseph Waring: KT dissatisfied with government 5G fibre plan. KT is the second-largest of three MNOs in the country and it already has substantial fibre assets that give it an advantage over the other two. Since the plan requires the sharing of fibre, KT is understandably reluctant to give any of its advantage away.
To operate your own telecommunications network is no simple thing; to cooperate with two other operators as you do so will be a zillion times harder. Joseph's story even quotes a government official as saying that the three operators need to sit down and work out what facilities will be shared and how to charge for access. Are you kidding me? One of them doesn't even want to share: won't it do everything it can to frustrate the other two from using its network?
I know of one good example (or actually a bad example) of how governments don't help cooperation over new technology. In this 1991 academic paper, James Howell and John Hine outline that the Bank of England had a seat on the board of EFTPOS UK, a shared debit card scheme created during the 1980s. The banks participating in the scheme couldn't agree on the security standard for it. Eventually, they started just doing their own thing and EFTPOS UK was shut down.
Governments should be aware: cooperation to develop new technologies will only ever work when it's voluntary. They can force it, if they want, but it's at their peril. If you want to follow further news about government attempts to encourage 5G, please come join us at the group, Commercializing 5G.