You've probably heard about the communication standard 5G and its advanced capabilities. Американские операторы связи вроде Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile скоро начнут распространение этого стандарта в США. High speeds, low latency, moderate power consumption, a connected world – everything will be like in the movies. However, now 5G does not look very presentable.
Like 4G LTE before, 5G is likely to spread slowly. Tariffs will be limited, support for smartphones is weak, prices will rise both for communication services and for devices. Prepare for small cell towers 5G to appear at every corner.
Rising prices for communication services
There is no doubt that prices will rise. European carriers are already reporting that they are planning to raise the cost of support services 5G to keep up with the competition. T-Mobile says it is going to merge with Sprint and the cost could even come down. This is hard to believe, especially after each company has invested billions of dollars in developing their own networks 5G.
Verizon пока ничего не говорит про цены на 5G, зато говорила AT&T. As reported earlier this year, this operator is already offering a number of pricing tricks. These can be special tariffs for low latency gaming services and tariffs with a higher access speed, an additional charge for increased access speed to entertainment services and television. Additional charges for 5G may apply on top of existing 4G tariff.
When 4G LTE networks emerged with the promise of speeding up and changing the world, operators decided to limit tariffs. It only takes a few minutes to download 720p movies, but the movie can weigh more than your monthly bandwidth.
We had to wait a long time before the operators returned unlimited tariffs. And yet they have different limitations. Someone believes that cellular operators will not return to their old ideas with the advent of 5G?
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Rising prices for smartphones
Not only will the communication rates rise, but also the prices for cell phones and smartphones. The new modem itself is worth something, and to install it, you need to make changes to the location of the internal components in the limited space of smartphones. All this is not cheap. Qualcomm will receive licensing royalties for use 5G in its processors, and device manufacturers will pass these costs onto buyers.
How much will the price rise? The head of OnePlus Pete Lau said that the cost of smartphones could increase by 15,000 – 20,000 rubles. (only for smartphones with support 5G!) Devices from this manufacturer already cost more than 35,000 rubles, then count yourself. OnePlus smartphones are considered cheap flagships when compared to devices from companies like Samsung LG or Sony. If they become more expensive than 55,000 rubles, no one will definitely call them cheap. If Apple, Samsung or Google raise prices by the same amount, their smartphones will cost up to 150,000 rubles.
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Limited communication
There is another problem as well. You will pay an additional 15,000 rubles. for support 5G, but will you receive benefits 5G? We still need to wait until Russian telecom operators begin to spread networks 5G across the country. It took several years to spread 4G LTE. Propagation 5G can be faster because some hardware needs to be updated in software to work on networks 5G. However, it can take years to fully expand the networks 5G.
Some European operators will start spreading their mmWave (mmW) technology in 2019. It is a very fast standard 5G that resembles an access point, where download speeds reach 1 Gbps. But the range of this standard is low, it is easy to block it. This technology is considered suitable for high traffic. It would take many small mmW points all over the city to keep one in sight of the other.
By covering cities with such points, operators can start using other frequency spectra 5G. T-Mobile is going to leverage the 600 MHz band to increase the range of the network. Such a network will be slower compared to 4G LTE, so there is not much to be happy about. As a result, the networks 5G will be a mix of different frequency bands with mixed results.
Perhaps, the advantages of smartphones with support 5G can be used only in the center of large cities. In other cases, you will have to use 4G LTE for at least another couple of years. This is not the worst scenario, but why overpay then? It's easier to wait and buy a smartphone with 5G when the network is ubiquitous. Unless manufacturers begin to impose similar smartphones, ceasing to produce cheaper models without 5G.
In some countries, there may be problems with unlocked smartphones. In many, they are sold with contracts with mobile operators. Different carriers may use different frequency bands, not all of which will be supported on a particular smartphone model. In addition, operators will not want to provide an easy way to move from their networks to competitors.
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Other problems
The European Communications Commission recently published guidelines to help wireless operators expand their networks 5G as quickly as possible in cities. As mentioned, small cell towers 5G will be needed at all corners. They may be smaller than the current ones, but they still require space. The current operator-friendly European Commission regulations say networks 5G need to spread faster. Judging by them, if Europe does not overtake other countries in this, life will stop.
Because of these rules, at least one community in Amsterdam has decided to completely ban watchtowers 5G due to their potential health impact. Doctors say there is no link between cell phone use and cancer. The wireless networking industry says the same thing. Study after study shows that there is no addiction. However, new networks will again stir up these concerns. Because of them, new research is needed, preferably not on mice.
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Ignore 5G
In general, while everything looks not too rosy. The same thoughts could have visited many during the spread of 4G LTE, but this time there are differences. It appears that 5G is being distributed in a rush to boost sales and profits. After 10 years, the networks 5G might be great. After 5 years, they may be good enough. However, within 2-3 years we can expect high prices, a limited selection of smartphones, communication problems and others.