Quote:
Originally Posted by gary
In cities, it is proposed that "small cells" might have to be placed every
250 metres or so to provide adequate coverage and bandwidth.
In rural areas, this is obviously a problem.
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And this is why 5G is not "the answer" to the question of
"What is wrong with the NBN?"
When 5G comes along in a few years time, it will certainly be transformative, and it
MAY be an alternative to the NBN for some people,
IF you are lucky enough to live in an area that gets a high-density deployment early in the program,
AND you can position your 5G modem where it gets a good short "line of sight" to the nearest base-station,
AND that base-station is not too congested.
The target market for 5G is to be able to provide high-speed mobile data to a large number of people in a small area. Realistically, 5G is going to be deployed first in the CBD areas of major cities, so if you live in an inner city apartment you MIGHT get lucky - some time after 2020. (And that's assuming that 5G data plans are priced more competitively than the current 4G plans; call me sceptical, but I would expect 5G to be sold at a premium over 4G initially.)
If you live in a typical suburban or rural location, think about what using 5G for home internet would require: a
powered base-station (with a fibre connection as well), located every couple of hundred metres along every street where the service is offered. Telcos are simply not going to deploy that sort of infrastructure for just one or two households looking for an $80/month plan in a given street - at least, not in the short-term.
And don't forget - 5G is still just an idea - there is no committed timeline for deployment. (Heck - there isn't even a definitive technology model yet!)