Video: Who are the players in the battle over 5G and why do we care?
Welcome to the latest installment of our regular series of virtual roundtable discussions about important questions facing the future of technology. In this episode, Jason Perlow[1], Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols[2], Scott M. Fulton, III[3], and I look at 5G[4] and come away, well, a bit troubled.
Scott recently wrote an epic article, What is 5G? Everything you need to know about the new wireless revolution[5]. In it, he talks about the critically international nature of 5G.
A few weeks ago, the US government banned sales[6] to Chinese telecommunications manufacturer ZTE (and then, possibly, unbanned the ban[7]). Jason Perlow put that ban into perspective from a technological future perspective in an of his always thought-providing analysis pieces, Qualcomm: Meet the new boss of everything mobile[8].
These events are critical in understanding 5G and what it means to the telecoms, business, and individual consumers. That's where we started in our roundtable. We wanted to know what 5G is and, frankly, why non-telecom businesses and consumers should care.
Here are some of the key thoughts you'll see discussed in more depth in the video:
What's the biggest problem with 4G?
According to our panel, the big problem with 4G is actually its cost to cool. According to Scott, 75 percent of capital expenditures and over 50 percent of monthly operational expense are spent by mobile telecom providers cooling 4G transmission towers.
How does this relate to China?
China Mobile triggered this whole wave, after looking at the costs of not