The $100 Billion Bet On 5G Is Wilting

Three years after the technology’s rollout, big carriers haven’t found a road map to riches

- Scott Moritz

When Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile introduced the first 5G mobile services in the U.S. three years ago, they promised 10-times faster connection speeds that would unlock a new era of technological advancements. Although no one expected doctors to immediately turn their scalpels over to robots, the telecommunications industry has loudly trumpeted an array of business opportunities such as using augmented reality as a way for online shoppers to try on clothes remotely.

The three big U.S. carriers have spent more than $100 billion on 5G airwaves and network upgrades, but they have little to no revenue or major new businesses to show for it. Moreover, the arrival of the technology has gone largely unnoticed by consumers, and the future fortunes the industry is banking on are far from certain. “There isn’t an immediate payoff,” says Tammy Parker, an analyst with GlobalData Plc.

From the start, there have been challenges with the technology, like when AT&T Inc. confusingly branded 4G as “5G E.” Conspiracy theorists have tagged 5G as a source of harmful radiation and a spreader of the coronavirus. More recently, airlines have complained that some frequencies could interfere with radar and jeopardize air safety. To date, the biggest knock against 5G is that it’s been a non-event. And, by the time it’s in full force, big tech companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google may have beaten the wireless carriers to the kinds of data-hungry applications that superfast 5G networks have been expected to spawn.