The viability of 5G fixed wireless and mobile substitution are possibly the biggest wild cards in the U.S. fixed network internet access business. For the most part, where telcos and other internet service providers have fiber-to-premises networks, market share of about 50 percent for the telco [...]

One of the touted big drivers of 5G value is speed, offering mobile broadband speeds, in some instances, up to a gigabit per second, using millimeter wave, and often in a fixed usage deployment. Perhaps surprisingly, given all the hype about 5G data speeds, you might think mobile internet [...]

Eventually, the U.S. connectivity business, at least the part selling services to consumers, is going to be dominated by a small set of suppliers, perhaps two with telco roots and two with cable TV roots. Most likely believe that AT&T and Verizon have reached a natural limit in terms of [...]

Sometimes international rankings on various measures of connectivity quality are less important than you might think. Consider voice adoption, where the best the United States ever ranked was about 15th globally, for teledensity (people provided with phone service). Does anybody really think [...]

How much market share does 5G fixed wireless have to shift before it affects the profitability of the fixed network consumer internet access market? Not much. Consider the U.S. market, one of several where 5G fixed wireless is likely to be deployed at scale.  In recent quarters,  U.S. fixed [...]

5G is, by design, supposed to have performance advantages over 4G for mobile service provides and customers. For customers, the advantages include faster top speeds and lower latency.  For mobile operators, the advantages include faster top speeds, lower latency, virtualized networks, which [...]

Many observers are hoping for a relatively-quick uptick in firm productivity and capabilities driven by 5G, edge computing, internet of things and artificial intelligence. Fewer likely believe 5G will positively affect gross revenues and profits from consumer mobility services. Patience is the [...]

It is a truism of chaos theory and the behavior of complex systems that very small changes in initial conditions can lead to very-significant and unexpected long-term changes. And that is why nobody really can predict, with conviction, what new revenue models, business models, applications and [...]

A survey of mid-size, multi-site enterprises conducted by Netertes Research suggests a large number are seriously looking at replacing a Wi-Fi network with a 4G-based private network alternative. The idea that a private 4G network could replace Wi-Fi might sound outlandish, but new [...]

Generally speaking, successful new technologies and platforms get adopted faster than they used to. That was true of 4G, compared to 3G take rates. What happens in the 5G era seems unclear. Some expect 5G adoption faster than 4G, others expect 5G adoption on about the same pattern as 4G, while [...]

With some exceptions, the mobile service provider business tends to feature three leading providers in any single country. And that might be the best sustainable outcome, in at least some countries.  Though many would note that the existence of mobile virtual network operators will increase [...]

One key argument for 5G is that it supports vastly more bandwidth than does 4G. In fact, the practical argument for 5G is that it allows mobile operators to supply capacity at lower cost per bit, a necessary requirement to maintain profit margins as mobile operators must supply ever-greater [...]