The Road to 5G. Are we there yet?
5G has turned from sprint (no pun) to marathon due to many unanticipated developments and events. Among those that have been particularly impactful (below), the overall effect has spawned decided changes in tactics on the part of both suppliers and carriers - early lessons learned are now helping mold profitable and long-term sustainable strategies.?
·??????Changing deployment coverage priorities (suburbs, rural from metro) from covid
·??????Device cost/availability delays, new spectrum bands added, M&A
·??????Shortage of fiber and edge center locations
·??????Financial market weakness
This couples with ecosystem compatibility issues that are a natural part of any generations technology at the beginning stages.
Industry reactions to market dynamics
- Carriers have boosted wireless plan prices to cover increased fiber cost
- Enforced consumption limits and more dynamic throttling
- Widespread fixed-mobile price plan options
- Densification in suburb and rural locations disproportionate to metro areas
What to expect
-???????More carrier upcharge on unlimited plans, including 5G+ options
-???????Continued increases in average 5G speeds – currently around 170 Mbps?
-???????Increased 5G coverage, mobile & fixed, including new mixed-device price plan “buckets” available as super-wide spectrum blocks such as C-band are deployed
-???????A progressive blur between 5G, LTE, licensed, unlicensed and WiFi for smaller private, enterprise and IoT deployments
-???????Broader device support across home, mobile and IoT devices late 2022 into 2023 as standards “releases” and chipsets reach the market