5G is touted as a game-changing technology, with the ability to dramatically boost the speed and coverage of wireless networks. It can run between 10 and 100 times faster than your typical 4G cellular connection today. It is quicker than anything you can get from a physical fiber-optic cable in your house. And latency, the amount of time between when your phone pings the network and when it responds, is faster than what Wi-Fi provides.
The move from 4G to 5G is different from past network upgrades. 5G isn't replacing 4G, like how 4G overtook 3G. Instead, 5G is building on 4G LTE, using updated radios and software. Right now, if you have an early 5G phone and upload videos to Google Photos, you're actually using a 4G LTE connection for that uplink. "This is the first time so many aspects of are shared," said Gordon Mansfield, AT&T vice president for converged access and device technology. "Some things we'll do for 5G are inherently backward compatible and will lift the capabilities of 4G."
By 2025, 15% of mobile connections in the world will be on 5G, according to a 2019 report by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the mobile operator group that hosts Mobile World Congress. But LTE usage will be about 59% by the same year, up from 43% in 2018. (In North America, the split will be more even, with about 47% of 2025's connections on 5G and 44% on 4G). Even if 5G becomes an even bigger part of the market by 2025 than estimated today, "it will complement rather than replace LTE," GSMA said in a separate report from last year. "For operators in many parts of the world, LTE is and will be the foundation for the next 10 years at least," the GSMA report said. "LTE speeds are improving, which makes 5G less compelling without new services such as AR/VR."
Right now, 5G networks in the US are something called "non standalone." They need 4G as the anchor to make that initial handshake between a phone and network before passing the device along to a 5G connection. Using non standalone technology allows carriers to roll out 5G more quickly than if they had to completely overhaul their entire networks with new hardware. “With non-standalone mode, [carriers] retain the same 4G core network and simply add 5G radios," said Durga Malladi, Qualcomm's head of 5G.
The next flavor of 5G network, called "standalone," lets a phone go straight to 5G, but it could take several years to roll out in the US and globally. At least through the end of next year, all devices on AT&T's network will use non-standalone technology, Mansfield said. It's not until late 2021 or early 2022 that standalone networks will really roll out, he said. Most of the 5G networks in the US today also rely on 4G for uploads and use only 5G connections for downloads. That made it less complex for carriers to develop their networks. While you can download a video in record time, uploading one will take as long as it did before -- at least for now. Verizon deployed 5G for uploads in Providence, Rhode Island earlier this month, but other areas and carriers will have to wait until later this year or next year.
5G isn’t replacing 4G altogether – it’s its own separate technology that is built on top of existing 4G networks. So don’t worry about having to run out and buy a new phone, even if your area has 5G, your 4G phone will work just fine!
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