Verizon or T-Mobile's 5G expansion may be sped up by the coronavirus
5G could be the savior when the world goes online
All of a sudden, everything is done remotely - from the morning work meeting through grocery shopping, to entertainment - and that puts a huge strain on the existing cable broadband network.
Regardless of the marketing talk about "100x the 4G speeds," the actual biggest advantage of a comprehensive 5G network is that it can sustain much more devices hooked simultaneously to one node like a cell phone tower with a much lower delay in signal transmission, i.e. latency. It is also cheaper to deploy than laying cables, though the mmWave base stations still need a bunch of them.
Thus, while the carriers are putting on a brave face regarding the capacity of their broadband networks, Jessica Rosenworcel, an FCC member, said that "we’re going to have a big stress test on our networks" and "these are still early days."
One solution is a faster 5G rollout, and Verizon’s Vestberg is on record claiming that half of the nation will have 5G access by year's end, including rural areas. This can only be delayed by some equipment supply chain issues that are due to the coronavirus disruptions.
With everyone moving as much as they can online, though, and with the government greasing the skids with spectrum releases and 5G research incentives, a nationwide next-gen mobile connectivity network may actually be sped up by the current jump in remote communication and entertainment demands.
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