British newspaper The Register
We thought the mobile broadband hype couldn't get any more fantastic, but we were wrong. So let's break down the top five misconceptions about 5G.
1 China uses technology to spy on God-fearing Western countries
No. 5G is a new technology, and China, in the wake of its rise, is actively promoting it. He has world-class engineers, and his companies can produce products that are comparable or superior to those of Western firms, and at a competitive price.
And most of all, the United States does not like it. So, in keeping with the Trump administration's thoughtless anti-Beijing sentiment, the US government (with the gleeful support of their telcos) is insisting that 5G products from China are a security risk and no one should buy or use them.
Why not instead buy the products of the good old US, which never used its technological edge and ubiquitous underlying technology to spy on people?
It has already reached meetings at industrial conferences where they discuss the political component of 5G. And this should be kept in mind by governments and large companies.
Just this week, the conclusion of Britain's National Security Council that Huawei poses no major security problems - and that its telecommunications equipment can be used anywhere but on the most critical networks - has significant political implications. But let's be clear: China is not using 5G to spy on people.
2. There is a β5G raceβ
There is no 5G race. This is a cunning marketing slogan coined by American telecoms, who themselves were surprised by its effectiveness. Every member of the US Congress that has ever mentioned 5G has touched on this famous βraceβ as well, and often used it to explain why something needs to be pushed through urgently, or why the usual process needs to be abandoned. Sounds cool, we admit - sort of like a space race, only with phones.
But this is nonsense: what kind of race can we talk about when any country or company will soon be able to buy the necessary equipment at any time, and install it where and when it wants? The market is open and 5G is an emerging standard.
If there is a 5G race, then there is the Internet race, the bridges and buildings race, the rice and pasta race. Here is how an expert in the field, Douglas Dawson, accurately describes the situation:
On the "5G race" says you cannot win a race when every country can simply buy the radios and install them at any point. There is no race.
β Christopher Mitchell (@communitynets)
You can't win the race if any country can buy radios and install them at a moment's notice. There is no race.
The next time someone mentions "the 5G race", ask them to clarify what they mean, and then tell them to stop talking nonsense.
3. 5G ready to go
Not ready. Even the most advanced 5G installations in South Korea have been accused of misrepresenting the facts. Did Verizon launch 5G in Chicago this month? Somehow no one saw him.
AT&T just got into a court case with rival Spring over its use of the term 5GE β and AT&T was arguing in all seriousness that no one would ever confuse it with 5G. Of course it is - how can anyone think that 5GE means anything other than just 4G+?
The thing is that even the 5G standard itself has not yet been completed. There is a first part of it, and companies are rushing to implement it, but there is not a single working public network with 5G. So far, telecoms are trying to get at least one device to work.
So keep in mind that 5G still exists in the same sense as virtual reality: it kind of exists, but not in the way we are led to believe. Don't believe? We literally this week were in a Chinese 5G hotel. And you know what? There is no 5G there.
4. 5G covers all our needs for broadband fast internet
Absolutely not. Despite the constant claims that 5G is the Internet of the future (and coming from people who supposedly should understand it better, for example, members of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)), in fact, 5G, albeit a wonderful thing, but it does not replace wired communication.
5G signals cannot magically cover huge distances. In fact, they can only cover relatively small areas and can hardly penetrate buildings or pass through walls - so one of the challenges is how to install tens of millions of new micro base stations so that people have reliable signal reception.
5G networks will rely 100% on fast wired connections. Without these lines (it would be good, fiber optics), it is, in fact, useless, since its only advantage is speed. In addition, it is unlikely that you will have 5G if you travel outside of a big city. And even in the city there will be dead zones when you go around the corner or approach the flyover.
Just this week, a Verizon CEO told investors that 5G "is not spectrum coverage" - which in their parlance means "won't be available outside cities." The director of T-Mobile said even more simply - again this week - that 5G "will never make it to rural America."
5. Frequency band auctions will solve all problems
Both the FCC and the Trump administration want you to think that a big auction of frequencies will solve all the problems with 5G - firstly, it will be possible to bring it to the people, and secondly, with the proceeds, Internet access will be expanded in rural areas .
And all this is not true. The FCC is selling unsuitable 5G spectrum as it's the only spectrum it has so far, largely due to the abysmal performance of the US government in general.
All other countries of the world hold auctions of "medium" frequencies, which, in fact, allows you to achieve high speeds over long distances. And the FCC is auctioning off spectrum that travels a much shorter distance, and therefore will only be useful in densely populated cities, which are already first in line for 5G adoption due to the concentration of consumers and money.
Will the auction proceeds go to the $20 billion investment in rural broadband, as the FCC President and CEO has said? No, they won't. Until something seriously changes in politics, political pressures start to work in the opposite direction, and there is no political will that can squeeze the almighty telecoms and force them to deploy high-speed Internet access throughout the US, rural Americans will continue to be dynamized.
And please, for heaven's sake, don't buy a new phone just because it says "5G", "5GE" or "5G$$". And do not overpay for a 5G connection to your operator. Phones and services will outpace the reality of 5G. Continue to exist quietly, and in five years - if you live in a big city - you will find that you can watch videos much faster on your new phone.
And everything else is nonsense.
Source: habr.com