Forget the 5G mirage and fix notspots instead
The dream of 5G becoming a viable competitor to fixed line broadband remains pie in the sky until TV broadcasters give up the best spectrum
10 June 2021 • 6:00am
Two years ago, EE switched on the UK’s first 5G network. A few weeks later Vodafone followed suit. Don’t worry if you can’t taste the difference, though – few can. Tangible benefits are scant, and while we normally look to governments or bureaucrats as the culprits for bungling any promising new technology, this time the telecoms industry only has itself to blame.
5G is as much of a marketing artifice as it is anything else. Every decade, the mobile industry revs up the hype machine in an attempt to capture the attention of regulators, consumers and the political powers that be. Regulators are nudged to release and reallocate spectrum. Politicians, who have the attention span of a goldfish, are lured away from their fleeting fascination with e-scooters, health apps