5G networks: The progress so far

The telecoms world is gearing up for 5G, the next generation wireless technology that promises to go beyond phones and link up everything from vehicles to household devices, or anything else with an internet connection at far greater speeds. Yet most consumers will wait years to experience the benefits. While the first commercial 5G projects will launch in the United States in 2018.

Many users in emerging markets are still awaiting 4G and are likely to have to grapple with ropey 3G connections for years more. Among industry insiders, the debate is about whether 5G will deliver on all the promises that its most excited proponents make and how much they can afford to roll out the new technology when profits are squeezed by competition and regulation. Unlike 2G, 3G and 4G wireless that focused on mobile phones, the promoters of 5G say it offers faster, more stable connections for cars, homes, factories and offices. Norway’s Telenor is testing uses of 5G in driverless snowploughs, traffic systems and even autonomous boats for the nation’s fishing industry. Yet it is unlikely to deploy 5G commercially before 2020 and Telenor’s boss remains cautious about what the technology will offer. “5G is, so far, too much hype, in the sense of its position as a new revolutionary technology,” Telenor Chief Executive Sigve Brekke told Reuters at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where 5G overshadowed other topics.

“I look at 5G as much more an evolution on what we already have,” he said at the conference, attended by executives from the world’s mobile network operators and technology suppliers. Telenor expects 5G to complement existing networks, helping cut operating costs after the hefty capital outlay and offering greater scope for delivering high bandwidth video and almost instantaneous links for autonomous cars or medical procedures. 5G promoters say it can deliver data 10 times or faster than 4G and cut latency, the lag-time when data is sent or received. As well offering new applications, extra speed makes it easier to store data in the cloud instead of on a device. Yet 4G advances and new software could offer many of the benefits promised by 5G, Chuck Robbins, chief executive of networks supplier Cisco, said in Barcelona. Nordea Bank analysts told investors there “seems to be a bit too much optimism on which industry issues 5G will solve.”