The hype was flowing when 5G wireless service began rolling out around 2018. According to the US wireless company Verizon, based in New York City, NY, USA, 5G would usher in “a Fourth Industrial Revolution”. The technology would also allow surgeons to perform operations remotely on patients thousands of kilometers away, permit communications between driverless cars, and offer other life-changing benefits. Even the name “5G,” which is short for “fifth generation,” implied it would be revolutionary, said Prasenjit Mitra, professor of information sciences and technology at Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA, USA. “We are calling it a generational technology, and that is what we expect.”