The focus of the industry debate is whether 5G is able to meet all its promises made by its most enthusiastic backers and how well they are able to launch the new technology as margins are squeezed by competition and regulation.
Unlike 2G, 3G and 4G wireless technologies, which are focused on handsets, 5G technology advocates claim that 5G wireless networks provide faster and more stable connections for cars, homes, factories and offices.
Telenor, a Norwegian telecoms company, is testing 5G technology networks for unmanned snow machines, transportation systems and even autonomous fishing vessels in the country's fishing industry, but Norway is unlikely to deploy a commercial 5G network until 2020, and Telenor executives remain cautious about what the technology can offer.
Sigve Brekke, Telenor's chief executive, told Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (MWC) that "as far as its status as a completely new revolutionary technology is concerned, there has been too much speculation about 5G so far 'At this conference, the 5G covers other topics.
He said at the conference: 'I think 5G is more of an evolution to our existing product.' 'Attend this World Mobile Congress, including executives from global mobile network operators and technology providers.
Telenor expects the 5G to complement the existing network, helping to reduce operating costs after significant capital expenditures, and having more room to deliver high-bandwidth video and near-instant links to autonomous car or medical procedures.
5G promoters say the technology delivers data up to 10 times faster on the 4G network and reduces latency, the lag time when data is being sent or received - in addition to delivering new applications, faster speeds will It's easier to store data in the cloud than to store it on your device.
However, Chuck Robbins, chief executive of network equipment provider Cisco Systems, said in Barcelona that advances in 4G and new software can provide many of the benefits that the 5G promises.
Analysts at Nordea Bank told investors they were "overly optimistic about the sector issues that the 5G will address."
The first commercial 5G project to start in the United States this year, followed by Japan and South Korea will start in 2019. It is estimated that China will join in 2020.
For network equipment makers such as Ericsson and Nokia, that pace can not catch up quickly, and they are still coping with the decline in 4G device sales.
However, in Europe, the deployment of this technology will not start slowly until 2020 and is unlikely to be large-scale deployment until 2025. Meanwhile, many emerging markets are struggling to catch up with fixed-line and 3G data services.
In addition, the deployment of new 5G networks requires significant investment.
Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, a global industry group, said the deployment of 5G could mean that capital spending in the mobile industry will rise from the current 15% of revenues to a revenue share 16% to 17% The industry group represents nearly 800 operators and about 300 suppliers.
GSMA predicts global capital expenditures for mobile networks will reach 500 billion U.S. dollars over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020. In order to raise investment funds for 5G networks, operators hope to shut down 2G and 3G networks to reduce the cost of operating multiple networks Cost, and release spectrum for 5G networks.
Industry consultant Bengt Nordstrom said, 'We are operating in a capital-constrained sector.'
This status quo may slow down the rollout of 5G networks, and GSMA expects that by 2025, more than half of mobile subscribers will still be 4G subscribers, while the proportion of 5G subscribers will still be only 14%.
South Korea tested the 5G for weeks at the PyeongMing Olympics with the aim of using the drone and enabling ultra-high resolution 360-degree video to be played wirelessly in Olympic venues.
But the phone has not yet provided 5G compatibility, so almost no one noticed during the Winter Olympics.Mobile chip giant Qualcomm at the World Mobile Congress held in Barcelona, cumbersome commercial prototype phones show the early Of 5G mobile phone chipsets, but analysts expect 5G compatible smartphones to be widely available by the second half of 2019.
Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, a market research firm, said a cellphone company was showing a 5G cellphone in Barcelona and accidentally dropped the phone and dropped it off, saying, 'It turns out that cellphones It is completely empty inside.