5G connectivity is going mainstream — but do buyers really know what they’re getting?
If you’ve bought a smartphone recently, you probably own a 5G compatible handset capable of operating at blazing-fast speeds on the country’s latest, greatest broadband cellular networks. In recent months, the major telecom firms have made huge investments in 5G technologies: T-Mobile plans to triple its 5G coverage this year, for instance, while AT&T is pouring upwards of $20 billion a year into building out its 5G network.
With so much money pouring into the sector, it’s no surprise that cellular providers and handset makers are touting 5G as the next big thing for both consumer and enterprise-grade connectivity. Certainly, 5G really does have transformative potential, allowing users to connect at far greater speeds and with far better coverage than existing fourth-generation (4G) mobile networks.
But like any new technology, the rush to roll out something amazing has led to widespread confusion over what exactly makes 5G such a big deal. That’s potentially a problem, because consumers and business buyers will inevitably find that while 5G solves many problems, it isn’t a silver bullet for all use-cases. Like any technology, 5G has pros and cons — and unless we’re clear-eyed about both, we risk a backlash as users begin to confront the potential shortcomings as well as the many benefits of 5G connectivity.
Unmet expectations
First things first: 5G really is a big deal. It’s not just that 5G is fast — though it is! It’s that 5G is a true “triple threat”, offering unrivaled bandwidth (so you can pull down any amount of data you want), low latency (so you can get your data right away), and high density (so you can access your data even while 100 other IoT devices in your smart-home or workplace are also online).
But while that sounds great in theory, there are also some potential shortcomings that users need to understand before making the leap to 5G. In some cases, for instance, 5G doesn’t deliver the expected speed-boost, due principally to suboptimal early technical decisions made by cellular providers. (Those decisions are now being corrected, but the hiccups have taken some of the polish off the 5G rollout.)
Another potential snag: in some cases, using 5G can drain a device’s batteries faster than 4G or LTE connectivity. That’s potentially an even bigger deal than network speeds, because it’s such a tangible annoyance for both consumer and enterprise users. If 5G is seen as an energy hog, it will seriously impact uptake and could lead many users to “downgrade” to 4G and LTE connectivity unless they really need a bump in speed.
Understanding 5G
Part of the reason why these shortcomings threaten to balloon into a full-blown backlash, of course, is that users only have a vague understanding of what makes 5G so special. All they really know is that it’s supposed to be fast, and by definition better than 4G — so when they run into any shortcomings, it’s easy to get disillusioned. The reality, of course, is more complex. Yes, 5G is fast, and better in many ways than 4G.
But realizing 5G’s potential requires more than just vague aspirations — it requires a clear understanding of how 5G is being deployed in the real world. 5G technologies will operate across a wide range of different frequency bands, and the specific bands being used will have a considerable impact on the speed, latency, and range of network coverage:
- The low-band spectrum, marked by its superb ability to penetrate through physical obstacles, allows carriers to provide low-cost, broad-reach geographical coverage using a single cell tower. Still, it provides only incremental improvements in connection speed over 4G for individual devices,
- If low-band is built for density, the high-band spectrum is built for speed, delivering up to 100 times the speed of 4G connectivity. Still, high-band signals can travel no more than a mile, and are prone to obstruction by trees, walls, and even glass, and require a forest of costly signaling antennas to cover even a relatively small area.
- The mid-band spectrum offers a compromise between high- and low-band, with high connectivity speeds and more moderate costs, making it the real workhorse of the 5G spectrum.
Further complexifying things, it’s possible to use a mix of different frequency bands to meet a range of different use-cases. These “service grades” include:
- Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) networks using low-band 5G signals focus on prioritizing density, simultaneously serving up to 1 million connected devices per square kilometer — a tenfold improvement over LTE.
- Ultra-reliable and Low latency communications (URLLC) networks prioritize delivering single-millisecond latencies with ultra-high reliability, making them suitable for high-stakes applications such as autonomous vehicles.
- Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), a category that aims to blanket densely populated areas with connectivity providing peak downlink speeds of 20 gigabits per second, and consistent user-experienced data rates of around 100 megabits per second.
Clearly, not all 5G coverage is born equal. For consumers to expect ultra-fast speed from a low-band network designed for scalable reliability, or bulletproof range and density from a blazing-fast high-band network, betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how 5G works in the real world. Given this, concerted efforts are needed to ensure that both consumer and enterprise users know what to expect from the precise kind of 5G connectivity offered by their devices and their carriers.
Getting real about 5G
For consumers, that means carriers should be clear about the data link speeds they’re offering, and whether that will change as users move from one area to another. Instead of maps showing blanket 5G coverage, carriers should be clear about the types of 5G that users can expect.
For enterprise applications, meanwhile, buyers will need to ensure they understand what service grade will best suit their specific needs, to ensure they’re optimizing for bandwidth, latency, density, and battery life.
The importance of such consumer education will only become more important as 5G becomes more widespread. The reality is that 5G connectivity can be a gamechanger, serving a range of use-cases ranging from ultra-low latency to ultra-high density and capacity.
Capturing those gains, however, will require a meaningful understanding of how 5G works in the real world — and a commitment to clearly communicating the strengths and potential limitations of different iterations of this transformative new form of connectivity.
