5G Falls Short of Promised Benefits

Mitch Leslie

Engineering ›› 2023, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (10) : 5-7.

PDF(676 KB)
PDF(676 KB)
Engineering ›› 2023, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (10) : 5-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.08.003
News & Highlights

5G Falls Short of Promised Benefits

Author information +
History +

Highlights

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.”

Graphical abstract

Cite this article

Download citation ▾
Mitch Leslie. 5G Falls Short of Promised Benefits. Engineering, 2023, 29(10): 5‒7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2023.08.003

References

[1]
Harrington S.Powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution with 5G [Internet]. New York City: Verizon; 2018 Dec 13 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/fourth-industrial-revolution/powering-fourth-industrial-revolution-5g.
[2]
E.K. Carlson. What will 5G bring?. Engineering, 6 (7) ( 2020), pp. 725-727
[3]
Finley K, Pearlstein J, Hill S.The Wired guide to 5G [Internet]. San Francisco: Wired; 2022 Dec 31 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.wired.com/story/wired-guide-5g/.
[4]
Ovide S. 5G was an overhyped technology bust. Let’s learn our lesson [Internet]. Washington, DC: Washington Post; 2021 Jun 13 [ cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/13/5g-didnt-matter/.
[5]
Pegoraro R. What is 5G, and does it actually make a difference? [Internet].New York City: The New York Times; 2022 Aug 11 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/what-is-5g/.
[6]
Koziol M. 5G networks are performing worse. What’s going on? [Internet]. New York City: IEEE Spectrum; 2023 May 6 [ cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://spectrum.ieee.org/5g-rollout-disappointments.
[7]
M. Leslie. US regulators clash over 5G rollout and aircraft safety. Engineering, 15 ( 2022), pp. 6-8
[8]
Sullivan M.3G and 4G wireless speed showdown: which networks are fastest [Internet]. San Francisco: PC World; 2012 Apr 16 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.pcworld.com/article/469946/3g_and_4g_wireless_speed_showdown_which_networks_are_fastest_.html.
[9]
Garcia A. Looking for 5G? Here are the US cities that have it [Internet]. New York City: CNN Business; 2019 Apr 9 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/09/tech/5g-network-us-cities/index.html.
[10]
Duffy C.The big differences between 4G and 5G [Internet]. New York City: CNN Business; 2020 Jan 17 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/17/tech/5g-technical-explainer/index.html.
[11]
Shankland S, Tibken S.5G latency: why speeding up networks matters [Internet]. San Francisco: CNET; 2021 Jul 1 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/5g-latency-why-speeding-up-networks-matters-faq/.
[12]
Minimum requirements related to technical performance for IMT- 2020 radio interface(s) [Internet]. Geneva: International Telecommunications Union; 2017 Nov [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-M.2410-2017-PDF-E.pdf.
[13]
What is 5G? [ Internet]. Bellevue: T-Mobile; [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.t-mobile.com/5g.
[14]
Anthony S. 5G specs announced: 20 Gbps download, 1ms latency, 1M devices per square km [Internet]. New York City: Ars Technica; 2017 Feb 24 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/02/5g-imt-2020-specs/.
[15]
Giles M.Are 5G networks meeting consumers’ expectations? [Internet]. Seattle: Ookla; 2023 Feb 15 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.ookla.com/articles/5g-consumer-expectations.
[16]
Giles M.Capitalizing on C-band—United States Q1 2022 results show room for improvement [Internet]. Seattle: Ookla; 2022 Jun 1 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.ookla.com/articles/united-states-q1-2022-results-show-room-for-improvement.
[17]
Wyrzykowski R.USA 5G experience report July 2023 [Internet]. London: OpenSignal; 2023 Jul [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2023/07/usa/mobile-network-experience-5g.
[18]
Branch P.What is a mobile network anyway? This is 5G, boiled down [Internet]. Melbourne: The Conversation; 2018 Aug 30 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-mobile-network-anyway-this-is-5g-boiled-down-102199.
[19]
Fowler GA. The 5G lie: the network of the future is still slow [Internet]. Washington, DC: Washington Post; 2020 Sep 8 [ cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/08/5g-speed/.
[20]
Kechiche S.mmWave clocks gigabit speeds in the U.S. but lacks maturity elsewhere [Internet]. Seattle: Ookla; 2023 Feb 13 [cited 2023 Jul 7] Available from: https://www.ookla.com/articles/mmwave-spectrum-gigabit-speeds-us-q1-2023.
[21]
Brodkin J. After fight vs. FAA, Verizon’s and AT&T’s New spectrum is boosting 5G speeds [Internet]. New York City: Ars Technica; 2022 Oct 12 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/after-fight-vs-faa-verizon-and-atts-new-spectrum-is-boosting-5g-speeds/.
[22]
Shepardson D. Verizon,AT&T agree to delay some 5G deployment until mid- 2023 [Internet]. London: Reuters; 2022 Jun 17 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/technology/verizon-att-agree-some-c-band-aviation-protections-until-mid-2023-2022-06-17/.
[23]
Shepardson D. US warns of potential 5G delays for airplanes without updated altimeters [Internet]. London: Reuters; 2023 Jun 23 [cited 2023 Jul 7]. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-warns-potential-5g-delays-airplanes-without-updated-altimeters-2023-06-23/.
[24]
Ferris R. How Ford and VW’s multibillion-dollar self-driving car project failed [Internet]. New York City: CNBC; 2023 Mar 22 [cited 2023 Jul 19]. Available from: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/22/how-ford-and-vws-multibillion-dollar-self-driving-car-project-failed.html.
[25]
Robbins J.Why the luster on once-vaunted ‘Smart Cities’ is fading [Internet]. New Haven: Yale Environment 360; 2021 Dec 1 [cited 2023 Jul 19]. Available from: https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-the-luster-is-fading-on-once-vaunted-smart-cities.
[26]
Kharpal A. Next-gen mobile internet—6G—will launch in 2030, telecom bosses say, even as 5G adoption remains low [Internet]. New York City: CNBC; 2023 Mar 7 [cited 2023 Jul 19]. Available from: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/08/what-is-6g-and-when-will-it-launch-telco-execs-predict.html.
AI Summary AI Mindmap
PDF(676 KB)

Accesses

Citations

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/