DRIVERLESS cars, fridges that talk to toasters, breathtaking immersive reality, mind-blowing gaming experiences –- 5G was going to enable it all, and telecom companies were going to make a packet.
But the reality is not so neat. The network that promised to be "not just another G" in Ericsson's advertising has left many customers wondering what they are paying for.
However, 5G was once again the central plank of the phone industry's annual get-together, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
The event's organisers proclaimed that 5G was "unlocking untapped value for all players across the entire ecosystem" and "redefining how the world connects".
The hype came with a dose of reality from Christel Heydemann, boss of French network Orange.
Network operators were in peril, she told the MWC, because "massive network investments of almost 600 billion euros in Europe in the last decade happened to be hard to monetise".
"And consumers expect to pay always less and get more," she added.
Networks are not the only ones who might be rueing their big bet.
Ericsson, which supplies the equipment for 5G networks, has just laid off 8,500 people after profits slumped.
"5G has disappointed pretty much everybody -- service providers and consumers, and it has failed to excite businesses," Dario Talmesio of research firm Omdia told AFP.
- The ghost of 4G -
Talmesio said 5G was never really a consumer proposition, it was always more appropriate for businesses and industrial uses.
But telecom firms were unlikely to be seduced into investing billions only to improve connectivity in factories and ports, or help develop hi-tech medical services.
Instead, they wrapped 5G in the kind of marketing that paints everything -- even small improvements -- as world-changing innovations.
Yet even now the benefits of 5G remain largely unclear to average smartphone users.
Thousands of US consumers told a survey last year that they were excited about the prospect of 5G, but when pressed they had little idea what the benefits would be.
Most listed services that were already available with 4G, the survey of 10,000 US consumers by Israeli software company ironSource found.
This summarises two of the main problems with 5G -- 4G is good enough for most people, and 5G jargon is often impenetrable.
Terms like "low latency", "network slicing", "zero rating" and "massive IoT" are unlikely to get the pulse racing.
- 'No limit' -
For large parts of the industry, though, criticism of 5G is inconceivable.
Ericsson vice president Fredrik Jejdling dismissed the idea that poor uptake of 5G was one of the reasons for Ericsson's mass layoffs.
Instead, he explained that the firm needed "to adjust our investment levels to the market demand".
Ericsson gave huge floorspace at the MWC to 5G innovations and insisted there would be no compromise on research and development.
"It is a platform for innovation. If you don't do it, you don't know what you miss out on," said Jejdling.
Frederique Liaigre, who runs Verizon's business operation in France and other European countries, shares Jejdling's enthusiasm saying there was "no limit" to 5G's potential.
Verizon was among the first to roll out 5G to customers in the United States, and Liaigre concedes the business side is just getting started.
But she regards her projects -- like providing a private 5G network to the port of Southampton in Britain to improve its security and supply chain management -- as every bit as sexy as driverless cars or talking toasters.
"It's really amazing the transformational capabilities of this technology," she said.
Whether regular consumers will ever be so starry-eyed about 5G is up for debate.
ETX Studio
Wed Mar 01 2023
5G was once again the central plank of the phone industry's annual get-together, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. - ETX Studio
Piala Dunia Sepak Takraw: Malaysia mudah tewaskan India, mara ke separuh akhir
Malaysia menepati ramalan mara ke peringkat separuh akhir acara berpasukan selepas mengetepikan cabaran India pada aksi suku akhir kejohanan Piala Dunia Sepak Takraw 2024.
Imigresen tumpas aktiviti pelacuran, tahan 51 warga asing
Jabatan Imigresen menahan 51 warga asing di sebuah pusat pelacuran dalam operasi khas di Jalan Pasar Baru, Kuala Lumpur pada Khamis.
Orang muda Malaysia perlu lantang bersuara bagi Palestin
Justeru, mengambil contoh langkah dilakukan mahasiswa di Amerika Syarikat, Ahli Majlis Hubungan Antarabangsa Palestin Dr Abdullah Waleed menyeru orang muda di Malaysia melakukan langkah yang sama, menyeru dunia memandang isu pembunuhan beramai-ramai di Gaza, sebagai sebuah krisis kemanusiaan.
Gudang bantuan di Gaza kini kosong
Ahli Majlis Hubungan Antarabangsa Palestin, Dr Abdullah Waleed berkata susulan halangan bantuan memasuki radah, tiada bantuan boleh memasuki bumi Gaza.
Korban rakyat Palestin meningkat kepada 35,857 orang
Angka korban rakyat Palestin meningkat kepada 35,857 dan 80,293 yang lain cedera menurut Kementerian Kesihatan Palestin.
AWANI Ringkas: Faisal Halim dibenar pulang hari ini atau esok
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Kerajaan bentang RUU Suruhanjaya Gig Julai ini - Anwar
Kerajaan akan membentangkan rang undang-undang berkaitan Suruhanjaya Gig di Parlimen pada Julai ini, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
3 bilik pembedahan di Pusat Jantung Serdang mula beroperasi Jun - Dr Dzulkefly
Sebanyak tiga daripada empat bilik pembedahan di Pusat Jantung Serdang (PJS), Selangor akan mula beroperasi untuk kegunaan pembedahan elektif dan kecemasan pada bulan hadapan (Jun).
Agong berkenan rasmi Hari Landskap Negara 2024
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim hari ini berkenan berangkat menyempurnakan perasmian Sambutan Hari Landskap Negara (HLN) 2024 di Taman Tasik Shah Alam di sini.
Ahmad Zahid tiba di Shanghai, teruskan lawatan rasmi di China
Timbalan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi tiba di sini hari ini, bagi meneruskan lawatan rasminya ke China yang bermula 22 Mei hingga 1 Jun.
MWC Barcelona 2023 medan berkumpul pakar teknologi mudah alih dunia
Sambutan pengunjung serta pemain teknologi mudah alih menjadi petunjuk penting kepada pemulihan ekonomi mudah alih sedunia.