5G: Maybe We’re Getting Ahead of Ourselves

The broadband industry is in the midst of figuring out the impact and implications of the next evolution of wireless, 5G. And the hype machine is in full swing. Some might argue it’s off the charts, especially in comparison to the roll out of previous generations, including 3G and 4G. At last week’s Huawei Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), held in London, 5G was put into better context, at least for me. MBBF attracts one of the best global carrier speaker contingents of any wireless event. C-level executives from British Telecom (BT), Deutsche Telecom (DT), Telefonica, Bell Canada and others offered some very candid commentary about 5G, some of which was sobering. While 5G will enable many new and interesting applications, the hype may have gotten ahead of the business reality.