Why 5G is going to be the mother of all context variables
Apple’s acquisition of Intel’s modems division for $1billion, a move aimed at ensuring control over the 5G technology in its terminals after its problems with Qualcomm and the foreseeable difficulties of using Huawei’s chips, has revived the discussion about the rollout of 5G: for Apple, $1 billion is a small amount to pay to improve the development potential that will define its road map, while trying to boost an Intel division seen as uncompetitive.
How will 5G affect us? If you think this is déjà vu all over again after what we went through with 3G and 4G not long ago, being told “this time it’ll be different” won’t help much. As on previous occasions, we have seen unfounded cancer scares based on poorly researched studies that we’re all going to die from radiation sickness. As before, our cities will be dug up and antennas erected left, right and center — this time, there will be even more, because 5G requires bigger antenna networks that while smaller and cheaper need to be closer to us and wired properly — along with arguments about urban infrastructure, cost and tariffs, as well as the speed of rollout in not in urban areas with significant user densities, but in rural or less populated areas where there isn’t as much money to be made.
What’s different about 5G? First, it’s not just about speed. Yes, the bandwidth…
