Will 5G technology replace 4G LTE?

Telecom companies have started implementing 5G technology into the market and the much more comprehensive mobile rollouts are expected to happen in 2020. After the mobile industry experiencing tremendous advancements and growth for over two decades, a question still prevailed that will 5G technology replace 4G LTE?

5G has been designed to support faster data rates, lower network latency and wider bandwidths of spectrum. The key factors contributing to the growth of the 5G include growing demand for high speed data, ever increasing demand for machine-to-machine communications, and low latency requirements for new applications.

4G LTE will continue to operate alongside 5G as a major part of the mobile ecosystem. According to a GSMA’s Intelligence report, 4G and 5G networks will coexist and remain complementary for many years. As such, operators can service a significant share of the data traffic on 4G networks, leaving 5G with the dual remit of absorbing overflow capacity and underpinning consumer and enterprise services that require higher speeds and/or lower latency.

As such, most 5G devices are expected to include multimode support for 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, enabling service continuity where 5G has yet to be deployed and simultaneous connectivity across 4G and Wi-Fi technologies, while also allowing mobile operators to utilize current network deployments. The first phase of 5G networks are expected to support mobile broadband services in lower spectrum below 6 GHz (sub-6 GHz) bands, as well as higher millimeter wave bands.

Analyst firm CCS Insights expects that global 5G connections will hit 340 million in 2021, pass the one billion mark in the first half of 2023, and will number 2.7 billion by 2025, which is more than one out of every five connections in the world. GSMA Intelligence anticipates that the US will have one of the fastest customer migrations to 5G in the world, with 5G mobile connections reaching 100 million in early 2023 and more than 190 million by 2025.

Major telecom companies including AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS), and Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) have been inching closer to implementing 5G technology in all cities. Verizon launched its fifth 5G-enabled device with the launch of the Inseego (NASDAQ: INSG) MiFi M1000 hotspot. The Inseego 5G MiFi M1000 is available today for $27.08 a month for 24 months ($649.99 retail) on device payment or $499.99 with a two-year contract.

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Verizon also launched 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service in St. Paul, Minnesota, joining Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis and Providence as the fifth of more than 30 Verizon 5G mobility cities Verizon plans to launch in 2019.

AT&T, on the other hand, has rolled out its 5G network to 19 cities across the country with the option of using 5G Netgear Nitehawk mobile hotspot as it doesn’t offer any 5G phones. Meanwhile, T-Mobile is yet to launch its 5G network in the US but it has plans of bringing the network to 30 cites by this year.

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