5G is nearly here. The next generation of wireless connectivity promises superfast speeds, ultra-low latency and more network capacity than ever. 5G auctions have or are due to take place in the US, UK, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Australia and host of other countries.
The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics was billed as a major 5G-powered event. Companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Intel are all promoting their 5G credentials, with Huawei pushing the issue particularly hard saying it will be selling 5G ready infrastructure in the coming months.
But is this actually the case?
“I believe 5G is really, really over-hyped considering that there’s only a few known use-cases that people really know that we need it,” says Magnus Jern, Chief Innovation Officer at mobility consultancy firm DMI.
“Of course, we do need 5G; there’ll continue to be a huge demand for increased capacity, lower latency etc, but we just need to be realistic about the timeline. There will probably be a lot of use cases that can really leverage 5G, but are probably going to take five to 10 years, rather than next year as some of the operators are promising.”