The (Gradual) 5G Revolution

Source: comptroller.texas.gov Published: February 2021

In 2019, Mike Wood, an official with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), predicted that 5G and internet-of-things (IoT) applications — sensors and communications technologies embedded in physical objects ranging from refrigerators to pipelines and heavy industrial equipment — would be widespread by 2025. By then, the number of connected IoT devices is projected to be 75 billion worldwide, a 500 percent increase from 2015, according to Jamie Susskind, a vice president of the Consumer Technology Association.

There’s a pragmatic economic necessity driving 5G — the need for more bandwidth. According to Douglas Dawson, owner of telecommunications consulting firm CCG Consulting, mobile data volumes have risen by 25 percent in the last few years, swamping existing 4G networks.

DOUGLAS DAWSON

CCG Consulting

But 5G isn’t widely available yet, and it hasn’t achieved anything like its full potential in the U.S. The Swedish technology company Ericsson estimates global 5G coverage at a billion people, or about 15 percent of the world’s population. Even so, the advent of “smart” technology and the constant business demand for more data are propelling 5G forward.

So What's 5G?

Fifth-generation or 5G technologies represent the next step in the 40-plus-year evolution of mobile communications (Exhibit 1). Each of these five generations introduced new capabilities and services for consumers.

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