Where was 5G at CES 2023?

by Janice Allen
0 comments

When it wasn’t overshadowed by covid resurgences, CES has functioned in part as a major 5G pep rally in recent years. But if cars, smart home standards and So many screens took center stage at this year’s show, 5G taking a back seat.

Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, gave a very similar keynote speech in 2019 and 2021, showing off all the things 5G would supposedly make possible: remote surgery, self-driving cars, augmented reality, and so on. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert was due to deliver the 2022 keynote before Omicron put an end to it. But in 2023, 5G was hardly a footnote on the roster of speakers.

Why? It’s not like all the things we were promised have come true with 5G. I don’t remember getting into a fully autonomous vehicle to get to my robotic surgery. At best, we now have a slightly faster version of 4G. So why did the pep rally stop?

For starters, we’re all tired of hearing about it. And CES has a unique way of rallying around a technology one year and leaving it for dead the next. (How’s your 3D home theater doing? Exactly.) And there was always a time limit to 5G’s news value — at some point, when it becomes mainstream wireless technology, it won’t be “5G the new thing”; it’s just “the internet you use when you don’t have WiFi.”

It’s not a new niche service anymore; it is the default option

More than all of the above, the time has passed when wireless CEOs feel they have to sell 5G to the general public (and, of course, their shareholders). It’s not a new niche service anymore; it’s the default option (at least in the US). Basically every new phone sold on the shelves is 5G-compatible, and mid-band 5G finally exists on all major carriers in much of the US. The next time you walk into a wireless store to buy a new phone or sign up for a new service, you’re going to have a really hard time leaving without a 5G device and subscription, whether or not you really wanted them.

So now we have 5G phones in our hands, 5G networks are here, and… not much has changed. Perhaps web pages load a little faster – hardly robotic surgery. What gives? The thing is, rolling out 5G is a lengthy process. The hype made it seem like all the good stuff was just around the corner, but honestly it was (and is) years and years away.

We’re only now entering the phase of 5G development where the industry is moving beyond mobile broadband improvements (all that talk of blazing fast wireless data you’ve heard ad nauseam) and focusing more on laying the groundwork for things like self- driving, augmented reality and expanding IoT in smart cities and industry. You know, all the things that we were promised 5G would do. According to a number of network executives I spoke to at the end of 2022, bringing network functions closer to the end user will play a major role in unlocking these new opportunities.

Igal Elbaz, AT&T’s SVP of network services, says that “there is a logical sequence of events when a new wireless network comes along. You have to build the network. You have to have enough people with a 5G device. And the nuance in 5G is that if you really want to use all the possibilities, there is also the concept of edge.” He says that with the lower latency that 5G offers and edge computing – a shorter distance between connected devices and the cloud – there is much more potential for immersive experiences. This next phase of 5G is about setting that phase.

But even once the networking capabilities are in place, it takes time to build an ecosystem that takes advantage of them. Srini Kalapala, Verizon’s SVP of technology and product development, describes the challenge: “There is a lot of talk in the automotive world about 5G, which allows cars to communicate with each other, allowing cars and pedestrians to live together in a given environment. But it’s an ecosystem; having only one car and one customer on the road doesn’t work. You have to catch everyone [on board].”

So yes, you may have a 5G icon on your phone, but the most transformative aspects of 5G are presumably still in the works. That’s a tough message to sell in a flashy keynote, especially when everyone in the room has access to the technology you’re talking about.

That’s probably why we didn’t get another big sales pitch about 5G at CES 2023, but the technology wasn’t completely out of the picture. Honda and Sony have unveiled a prototype autonomous vehicle loaded with sensors that require 5G to communicate. And TCL is working on VR and AR headsets with Qualcomm’s XR2 5G chip, ready for any of these technologies to go mainstream. 5G was still kicking ass – it just took the backseat this time. That’s great because I’m tired of the sales pitch, for example.

But don’t worry if you’re nostalgic for the wireless tech pep rallies. you’ll be hear about 6G soon enough.

You may also like

All Right Reserved Businesskinda.com