Over the last several months, we\'ve heard a lot about 5G: several television advertising, a few lawsuits, and several well-known rollouts. Even the president has a point of view (we should be on to 6G now).

The buzz around 5G home internet, or "fifth generation" cellular technology, is well-deserved. It will boost speeds (especially in densely populated regions), reduce latency (making devices more responsive), and connect more devices (for our ever-increasing internet of things).

So far, most of the 5G home internet discussion has been on mobile. However, 5G home internet, also known as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), can be as transformative. According to Broadband Now, 89% of users now have access to cable internet, yet "the Internet is an opportunist," as the site notes. While we now depend primarily on physical cables, the future seems to be more wireless. "It\'s more of a matter of when than if," Datacomm Research president Ira Brodsky told us.

With such a massive change on the horizon, we thought we\'d look at some of the more intriguing ripple effects we anticipate seeing in the coming years. Here are our five 5G home internet forecasts.

1. 5G will not wholly replace cable internet anytime soon.

Although 5G home internet is exciting, we are still in the early phases of its development, and most people will have to wait a bit before it becomes a realistic choice for their home internet. Brodsky said, "It\'s not ready to be adopted everywhere." "The gear is pricey, and the performance is restricted." However, I believe that in five years, it will have qualitatively superior performance at a cheaper cost."

"This is early days," Bill Stone, Verizon VP of technology planning, said at NYU\'s Brooklyn 5G Summit in late April. We\'ve just begun. We need to keep developing and improving technology, and there are no quick cuts to doing it properly."

Verizon 5G Home, which is currently the only 5G home internet service, is accessible in certain parts of Sacramento, Los Angeles, Houston, and Indianapolis. Verizon recently announced expanding its Ultra Wideband network to 20 more cities in the United States this year. Still, it is unclear how many of these will get 5G Home, with the company only stating that it "will roll out its 5G Home broadband internet service in some of these markets, as well."

Verizon, for one, has said that 5G mobile and home will work together. Verizon\'s VP of technology planning, Adam Koeppe, told verizon, "It\'s one network, built on 5G, serving numerous use cases." "Enterprise, small and medium-sized businesses, consumers, mobility, and fixed." When the 5G network is up and running, you\'ll have a fixed and mobile strategy that\'s tailored to the deployment you\'re undertaking."

2. Get rid of your cable TV package.

While the downfall of the cable TV bundle has been in the works for years, 5G might hasten it. For years, pay-TV has been losing subscribers. According to Vox, the number of cable, satellite, and telecom TV customers has fallen by 10 million since 2012, to 89 million, with AT&T alone losing 800,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2019. Comparing that to the projected 8 million people who have signed up for live TV streaming services like YouTube TV and Sling, you can see a definite trend.

We live in a streaming world, and 5G will solidify it. Most individuals still choose cable TV because of the savings that combine TV and the internet. Consumers will be free to acquire their TV service however they choose with a better internet alternative. Whether it\'s via live TV streaming, on-demand services like Netflix and Hulu. Or the variety of free streaming sites that are sprouting by the day.

Brodsky stated, "The cell phone carriers don\'t have these ties with the TV providers." "They\'re selling internet streaming TV and allowing Hulus and Netflix\'s and the like furnish the channel roster." In the few regions where 5G home is accessible, you can already see this happening: Verizon and Google have joined together to give three months of YouTube TV for free when you sign up for internet service.

3. 5G will not close the digital gap in rural areas.

The lack of high-speed internet connection in rural locations is a well-known issue. According to the Federal Communications Commission\'s most recent Broadband Progress Report. Over a quarter of rural populations — 14.5 million people — still lack access to fixed broadband service at the FCC\'s minimum speeds of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload.

Unfortunately, 5G does not seem to be a viable solution. Sure, T-Mobile boasted that their new "5G network will serve 96 per cent of rural Americans" alongside Sprint. Take it with a grain of salt, however. When it comes to the internet in rural and disadvantaged urban areas. These businesses have a lengthy history of failing to deliver on their claims. Early study suggests that coverage is considerably overestimated when 5G is currently in use.

For rural places, 5G technology does not make sense. Brodsky said, We\'re talking about a relatively low dwelling density and enormous coverage regions. It\'s not going to be able to compete in terms of bandwidth with cable. The speeds would be slower, and the cost would be more."

"Our millimetre wave installations are focused on metropolitan locations," Verizon confessed. verizon VP Adam Koeppe said, "It\'s where the people are, where the consumption is."

4. Bundled mobile and home internet will be the standard.

TV and Internet bundles may be on their way out, but that doesn\'t mean there aren\'t ways to save. Because Comlink and Sprint are leading the 5G drive. They\'ll almost certainly offer a variety of incentives to combine your home and mobile internet subscriptions. If you already have a Comlink phone contract, you\'ll be given substantial savings if you convert to their 5G Home internet service. These solutions are also available via cable internet providers, although the savings aren\'t as significant. Brodsky said, "The cable operators are doing the same thing." "However. They must purchase mobile service in bulk from wireless carriers. Putting them at a disadvantage in the long run."

5. For many individuals, cell phones will be the only option to access the internet.

Some people may use their mobile phones as their sole internet-connected device when 5G wireless becomes more widely available and usage limitations rise. Experts predict that by 2025, 72.6 percent of internet users would depend only on their smartphones to access the internet, according to a CNBC article.

This scenario is already occurring in numerous regions that do not have access to 5G. "I looked at what\'s going on in Mexico a while ago. And I realized that a lot of young people were purchasing cell phones instead of PCs. Instead of cable TV — they\'re doing everything on their smartphones," Brodsky said". As a result, there may be customers, particularly young people who are more cost-conscious, who may utilize that advanced spectrum to do three services on a single device."

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