Author: Pat Kline

As 5G technology—that is, the fifth-generation wireless network that succeeds 4G, LTE, and 3G networks—continues to expand, it’s become increasingly clear that the advancements are turning into a game-changer. More than 10 times faster than 4G LTE, 5G networks are now commercially available from 140 operators across 60 countries.

Meanwhile, upgrades to 5G are becoming increasingly crucial. The main mobile companies plan to end 3G services soon. AT&T has said it is set to terminate 3G around February 2022. Verizon plans to cut ties with the service toward the end of 2022, while T-Mobile is jumping ship early and says it expects to begin cutting off its 3G network in the latter end of 2021 and to continue the shutoff through the end of 2022.

With the launch of its iPhone 12 last year, Apple discounted the 2019 iPhone 11 to $600 and the 2018 iPhone XR to $500. That pricing tier has been popular of late, and many big-time mobile phone-makers offer great new phones in that range. One of them is Google’s Pixel 4A 5G, which joins the Pixel 4A from August 2020.

With so many phones hitting the market, people on a tight budget have more options to choose from. Further, in addition to the new ones, there are plenty of reliable options from 2019 and 2020 still available. The best part: All of them cost about $500 or less. And despite their low prices, budget phones are getting more advanced and pack features akin to a premium phone, like amazing cameras, fast processors, lots of internal storage, a great front camera, and the latest software updates. Further, if you’re willing to buy an unlocked phone, your choices become even broader.

The San Diego chip designer is the biggest supplier of modem chips offered for smartphones and other consumer electronics to cellular data networks. Qualcomm is aiming to take advantage of the faster speeds possible with 5G cellular network technology to expand to other markets.

The newest chip, called the X65 modem, is Qualcomm’s 4th series of 5G modem but the first capable of max download speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second, about 10 times faster than peaks on previous offered LTE cellular networks and comparable to fiber broadband and some cable networks services.

The main focus for the new chip will be commercial and industrial applications, such as connecting computers and equipment scattered across corporate campuses directly to cloud computing services when a traditional WiFi network would not be adequate.

Another will be fixed-wireless internet installations, where 5G will replace a traditional hardware-based home or business broadband internet.

Online conspiracy theories have blamed 5G for everything from cancer to coronavirus, but they tend to fall apart at the slightest tap of actual facts. Low-band and mid-band 5G are based on radio frequencies that have been used for decades.

T-Mobile’s low-band 5G uses UHF TV bands, which have been in use since 1952. T-Mobile’s mid-band has been in use at least since 2007, parts of it mid-band were first used in 1963.

AT&T’s low-band 5G is on cellular frequencies used since 1983, and it is no more powerful than previous systems on those bands. Verizon and AT&T’s DSS systems are on existing 4G bands.

The C-band, which was just auctioned off to Verizon and AT&T, is a new band for wireless communication. But it’s important to see where it fits. At 3.7GHz, the C-band is sandwiched between the extremely popular, common 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands. It’s not going to have any effect on us that pervasive Wi-Fi networks don’t already have. And though conspiracy theorists tend to look askance at Wi-Fi, mainstream science says there’s no convincing evidence Wi-Fi has harmed us.

The World Health Organization says, “Any health effects of low-level electromagnetic fields if they exist at all, are likely to be very small compared to other health risks that people face in everyday life.”

T-Mobile is prepped for Super Bowl LV this Sunday, having bolstered the Tampa area with mid- band 5G spectrum at the Raymond James Stadium.

T-Mobile has already rolled out 5G in Tampa using the Low-frequency band 600 MHz, on Tuesday that 2.5 GHz 5g band has been active. The faster 2.5 GHz service is available in parts of the downtown area, as well as Hyde Park, Ybor City, and surrounding cities such as St Petersburgh, Clearwater, and Dade City.

According to a new report done by BCG, Kentucky is set to gain 33,210 5G-related jobs by 2030. Several other larger cities will see an increase in jobs related to the 5G system, including Lexington-Fayette (6,295), Cincinnati (6,314), and Louisville (13,441).

Based on these estimates, Kentucky will see a 162% increase in 5G related jobs over the current 4G-related jobs in Kentucky. The state of Kentucky will also see a bump in GDP growth from 5G of $10,786,032,000 during the same period.

Nationwide, the 5G Economy will create up to 4.6 million jobs and add up to $1.7 trillion to the country’s GDP — the equivalent of the world’s current 13th largest national economy.

Super Bowl LV’s battle between Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs will be the main attraction on Sunday, but Verizon is hoping to use the event as a showcase for ultra-fast broadband, unveiling a range of 5G-powered features for fans attending the game. There’s a lot riding on the rollout for NFL and Verizon, which has billed 5G as the future of streaming data.

Verizon, which is teaming up with the NFL for its product push, is billing it as an “immersive and interactive” viewing experience for fans in the stadium and at home during Super Bowl LV.

Verizon has retrofitted the Raymond James Stadium with ultra-wideband 5G, the fastest form of the technology, to reimagine live events and highlight “one of the best use cases for the power of 5G.”

The whole point of 5G is to give collaborator in wireless communications a path to long-lasting service. This can still happen, but we’re at the point now, with respect to original projections, that sustainability should already have been achieved.

A variety of obstacles are to blame for this, one being the pandemic. No, 5G is not the cause of the virus. No, populist sentiment against the base station and tower construction is not a serious roadblock here.

From the beginning, 5G’s rollout plan called for a transition period, during which 4G LTE and 5G would co-exist. August 2019 study by the GSMA industry association published before the pandemic warned that systems might not be sufficiently covered by revenue from services with higher bandwidth and greater coverage, including in urban areas.

A pair of reports are out today from Opensignal detailing the state of 5G as well as the broader mobile experience in the US. The findings include T-Mobile leading the 5G race when it comes to availability and speeds. Meanwhile, the cellular carrier Verizon was able to pick up two wins for 5G video involvement and continues to lead the 4G experience.

Open signal published its 5G user experience report and its Mobile Network Experience Report with the studies based on over 2 million devices and 15 billion measurements in the US between September and December 2020. The firm notes how an important shift for 5G was the iPhone 12 lineup that’s making the latest cellular connectivity available to more consumers than ever.

The biggest takeaway you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, along with the Galaxy S21 Plus 5G and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, is that Samsung cut the US price of each by $200. Clearly this wasn’t done out of generosity and Samsung’s made trade offs to hit that lower price on the Galaxy S21: Down fall is these phones do not have the wall charger and headphones in the box, the phone doesn’t have a microSD card slot for expanded storage and it has 4GB of RAM less than the S20. Samsung also removed half of the pixels from the screen and replaced the Gorilla Glass from the back with hard plastic.