In 2018, 5G home internet will start rolling out in the United States. Google, Charter, Dish, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and others are planning on launching 5G internet. Dish, Verizon, and AT&T are spending billions to get ready for 5G.
So what is 5G, and why should cord cutters care? We answer your questions.
What is 5G internet?
The easiest way to explain 5G is that it is fiber internet without the need to run a wire to your house. Fiber internet is great, but it’s a slow and expensive process to roll out nationwide. Also, as Google has learned, current ISPs can slow down any attempt to build out a fiber network by slowing access to poles for example.
Now, 5G internet offers the same speed but can be rolled out in a fraction of the time as traditional fiber. It also removes many of the pole requirements preventing current ISPs attempts to slow down the roll out.
The idea is to upgrade existing cellphone towers with the new 5G system. Although 5G does not have the same range as the current system, providers plan to use new small towers on top of light poles, power poles, and other similar existing structures.
Why is 5G important?
Home internet has traditionally been dominated by DSL and cable. This means most Americans typically have two options for broadband internet. With 5G you may soon have five or six options.
This is also great news for rural Americans in areas that it may not be financially sound to run fiber miles between each home. They can set up a 5G cell tower and cover rural America at a fraction of the cost of updating DSL or running cables.
This will, for the first time, bring real competition to the world of home internet helping to drive down prices and add new features, which will also help cord cutters fully break free from phone and cable companies.
Will 5G suffer the same limitations as 4G?
Many have posted their concern that 5G will have the say limitations as 4G, but according to industry insiders, it won’t.
5G is being built for home internet first. Verizon is spending a billion dollars to run new fiber lines to their towers to handle the new traffic. 5G is also built to better handle internet usage and support more devices than 4G was built for.
Not only will 5G handle more devices, but also 5G will offer far faster speeds than current 4G standards.
Wireless executives have also made it clear that 5G is being built for the purpose of taking on cable and DSL in your home. Sources say that you should look for 5G to be competitive with your home internet provider.
Of course, as more providers launch, the prices and packages will likely become more aggressive.
What is the next step with 5G?
Later this year Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T are all launching 5G networks. We are still looking at a 2020 date for most Americans but a few lucky ones may have 5G internet in their town by the end of this year. In 2019 the roll out of 5G will greatly speed up.
As we write this companies including AT&T have live 5G tests going on to see how 5G will work in the wild. So far all reports say testing is going well.
Hopefully, in the next few months, we will start to learn what markets will get 5G first.
Cord Cutting Will Be The Real WInner
Soon there will be for the first time real competition amoung home internet services. Instead of having two maybe 3 options to pick from you will have 5 or more services to pick from. That will drive a new flood of cord cutting without the need to keep internet from your local phone or cable company. Finally the true cord cutting dream is almost here.
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