Hello, Quartz Index readers!
Qualcomm, the maker of mobile phone chips for smartphones including the iPhone, has benefitted from the wireless boom. The faster our cellular networks are and the more data they can carry, the more business for Qualcomm and its customers.
So it’s no surprise that its chief technology officer, Matt Grob, painted a compelling picture of wireless data’s future at Quartz’s The Next Billion conference yesterday (Oct. 13) in San Francisco. “5g will impact every electronic device, every industry—it’s going to be transformative,” he said on stage.
Grob reeled through use-cases and statistics: 100,000 high-definition video streams per block can be simultaneously transmitted. A million voice calls from the days of 1G mobile technology could fit in 5G’s bandwidth. Virtual reality and augmented reality all the time. Trillions of internet-connected sensors and devices.
These are recognizable examples from the 5G literature. And they could well happen. The problem is the insistence by some carriers and vendors to market the 5G label before it’s ready. While companies tout 5G “milestones,” successful trials, and inch closer to the market today, the reality is that the global technical standards for 5G are only due to be finalized in 2019. In other words, no one has even agreed on what 5G is yet, much less created applications for it.
If 5G is to avoid the fate of its predecessors—mis-sold as one of a garble of acronyms, not all of them delivering the same quality of service to the end-user—then it should really hit the market when it’s a technical reality, not just a marketing slogan.—Joon Ian Wong
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