This story was originally published here.
4G and 5G networks are already operating at the same time. They are simply functioning on different parts of the radio frequency spectrum, so they don’t interfere with one another.
To be clear, 4G-enabled phones will always work on 4G networks, just as 3G-enabled phones still work on 3G networks.
However, 3G and 4G phones will never function over 5G wireless networks – they will never have the functionality of 5G-enabled phones.
Your 4G phone will still be operational over 4G networks even when 5G networks are deployed widely. And 5G-enabled phones will also be able to run over 4G wireless networks when there is no 5G coverage.
So consumers won’t be required to buy a 5G-enabled smartphone if they don’t want to.
But for those who live in parts of the world where 5G wireless networks are deployed, it is going to be hard to resist the upgrade.
My longtime readers will instantly recognize this chart. It’s the Ericson Mobility Report that is published every quarter. It shows us the amount of mobile network traffic worldwide. The most recent data is from Q4 2019.
As we can see, the average monthly mobile network traffic is now 40 exabytes per month. Remember, an exabyte is equivalent to 100,000 times all the printed material in the Library of Congress.
And 40 exabytes are flowing across the world’s wireless networks every month. This figure has more than doubled since Q1 2018.
Our current 4G networks simply weren’t designed to handle this much data efficiently. That’s why we frequently have trouble with dropped calls, slow loading web pages, or text messages that never seem to send. These are almost always caused by network congestion.
And because of COVID-19, wireless network traffic is only going higher.
As we’ve been discussing, the demand for network bandwidth has been spiking in recent weeks as people rely on streaming services, videoconferencing, and cloud-based applications for work and play.
I’ll be very interested to see the network traffic numbers for Q1 and Q2 of 2020 when they come out. And this is why the world needs 5G…
What is the big deal with 5G?…?
You might think it’s 4G but a “little bit” faster… it’s actually a LOT faster… so fast in fact that it could change the world…
It will connect millions to billions of devices…. Doctors will able be to perform SURGERY from across the WORLD…
A world were your videos never buffer… where your calls never drop and lose signal….
This was all unveiled near Yale by the man who has been at the forefront of 5G… Jeff Brown… the most successful angel investor …
The same man that predicted Nvidia stock would skyrocket — now it’s worth $13.3 billion dollars.
He’s again revealed that 5G has just entered Phase two…
This is when 5G devices are made to handle the powerful 5G network… think smartphones laptops etc.
Verizon is expected to spend as much as $18 billion this year alone to complete its 5G network.
AT&T spent $700 million on 5G preparations…
And that’s just America… every country wants to be the FIRST country to have 5G…
However, they’re all missing one key piece that is absolutely essential to 5G…
What is this small piece and why are Apple, Samsung, and Huawei its biggest customers?