The (Gradual) 5G Revolution: Next-level internet coming to Texas

In 2019, Mike Wood, an official with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), predicted that 5G and internet-of-things (IoT) applications — sensors and communications technologies embedded in physical objects ranging from refrigerators to pipelines and heavy industrial equipment — would be widespread by 2025.

By then, the number of connected IoT devices is projected to be 75 billion worldwide, a 500 percent increase from 2015, according to Jamie Susskind, a vice president of the Consumer Technology Association.

There’s a pragmatic economic necessity driving 5G — the need for more bandwidth.

According to Douglas Dawson, owner of telecommunications consulting firm CCG Consulting, mobile data volumes have risen by 25 percent in the last few years, swamping existing 4G networks.

But 5G isn’t widely available yet, and it hasn’t achieved anything like its full potential in the U.S.

The Swedish technology company Ericsson estimates global 5G coverage at a billion people or about 15 percent of the world’s population.

Even so, the advent of “smart” technology and the constant business demand for more data is propelling 5G forward.

So What’s 5G?

Fifth-generation or 5G technologies represent the next step in the 40-plus-year evolution of mobile communications (Exhibit 1).

Each of these five generations introduced new capabilities and services for consumers.

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Small cells allow wireless carriers to offer increased data capacity, faster connectivity speeds, and a better wireless experience. The trade-offs are the small cells’ shorter range and weaker signal penetration, meaning they must be configured more densely and installed in much greater numbers.

And they must be connected almost exclusively by underground fiber-optic cable — meaning “wireless internet” isn’t, really. In the current, transitional period, 4G cell towers and 5G small cells will continue to exist and work together.

Another factor differentiating 5G is the portion of the radio spectrum used to transmit it. According to analytics firm Open Signal, every nation with 5G other than the U.S. uses the 3.5GHz mid-band spectrum for it; in the U.S., carriers such as T-Mobile and AT&T often use lower bands that offer lower average speeds.

That’s one explanation for average U.S. 5G download speeds that were slower than those of 14 other nations as of mid-2020. The U.S. average speed was 1.8 times faster than 4G, while Spain’s, for instance, was seven times faster.

For wireless companies, the expensive, capital-intensive move to 5G hasn’t yet generated the revenue streams needed to fund new applications and services, according to Grant Spellmeyer, a vice president with U.S. Cellular. Such revenue will be essential to making 5G cost-effective.

The IEC’s Wood says initial 5G applications are likely to be for fixed wireless residential access and enhanced mobile broadband. But Chelsea Collier, founder of the digital communications forum Digi-City, sees a bigger picture emerging.

“The real application is IoT and processing data at the edge,” Collier says. With 5G-enabled “edge computing,” data from embedded sensors can be processed and used on-site — a capability that would prove essential for the broader use of autonomous vehicles, for instance.

“When you can analyze and manipulate data where it’s collected, you can deliver insights and value more quickly,” Collier says.

A 5G GLOSSARY

Federal Role

On Dec. 7, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund allocated $9.2 billion to 180 providers to deploy high-speed broadband in the next decade to 5.2 million homes and businesses nationwide.

In Texas, 22 companies will receive nearly $362.7 million (PDF). Texas’ share will be spent in 220 of its 254 counties; 85 Texas counties will receive at least $1 million each, according to recent media reports.

The FCC also recently completed the latest in a years-long series of spectrum band auctions. On Dec. 8, it auctioned frequencies in the coveted C or mid-band, considered the 5G “sweet spot” due to its optimum ranges of coverage, speed, and latency.

The tally announced Jan. 15 reflects its value to providers: nearly $81 billion, almost double the previous auction record.

Houston is in the vanguard of small cell permitting in Texas, and not just because it’s the state’s largest city; advocates have lauded its proactive approach to 5G. Other cities, particularly smaller ones, are lagging well behind (Exhibit 3).