5G : Is anyone falling for the hype?

With 4G still in its infancy, is there any appetite for the promise of even faster 5G networks? Stewart Mitchell investigates

- Stewart Mitchell

THE GOVERNMENT has pledged the best part of a billion pounds towards it, the handset makers are desperate for it, but experts are seeing little appetite among network operators for the much-hyped 5G technology.

Although the final standard won’t be ratified until later this year, the International Telegraph Union’s (ITU) specifications have been released and, as always, the headline speed figures are alluring. The specification demands at least a 20Gbits/sec downlink and 10Gbits/sec uplink permobile base station, and although this is shared bandwidth, it promises potential for a significant speed boost and lower latency for mobile broadband customers. Moreover, Of com research even suggests that the technology could eventually exceed a benchmark of 50Gbits/sec.

The government announced a £16m 5G test hub as part of its spring budget announcements, which follows on from the further £740m it announced it was devoting to 5G in the autumn. However, with network operators still short of recouping their investment in 4G, industry watchers see no great desire to quickly take the plunge into next-generation 5G networks.

“We see a lot of hype about 5G and it’s interesting to see different approaches people are taking,” explained Kester Mann,mobile infrastructure expert with research company CCS Insight.