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 [...]

It is not an easy matter to predict whether 5G will produce higher average revenue per account in the U.S. market. For starters, not all the leading service providers will charge a price premium for 5G. T-Mobile US continues to say it will not charge any price premium for 5G. AT&T has not [...]

How Attractive is 5G Fixed Wireless? How attractive is 5G fixed wireless as a substitute product for existing fixed network internet access? Substantial, according to a new Parks Associates survey.  According to Craig Leslie, Parks Associates senior research analyst, “once the technology [...]

In a nutshell, the key to profitable 5G deployment is to invest as though the value is bandwidth reinforcement for 4G, in areas of greatest need, without all the futuristic stuff, so cost is contained.  That overlay approach would focus 5G investment on cell site coverage areas where there is [...]