Is the 5G Race Worth Winning? Amazon Laughs.
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile seem to be competing to make their technology rivals such as Apple and Amazon richer.
Soon, 5G may unleash a whole new category of must-have consumer apps and gadgets. But for carriers like Verizon, it may be a race to the bottom.
Photopgrapher: Tara Lachapelle
The winners of the 5G race won’t necessarily be the wireless carriers building America’s new high-speed networks — for them, it’s looking more like a race to the bottom. Instead, the technology giants already running laps around telecommunications stocks are the ones in line for another turbo boost.
AT&T Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are competing to deliver 5G, a new generation of wireless internet that can handle faster speeds and more connections at once. Industry engineers and executives say what’s most exciting about the upgrade is all the things it could make possible but have yet to be invented. It’s that same undefined promise that’s kept consumers from getting too enthusiastic up to now. Consider, though, the profound effects past network upgrades have had on society: The evolution to 3G nearly two decades ago paved the way for Steve Jobs to create the iPhone, the most consequential tech innovation since the internet. Later, 4G LTE capabilities enabled smartphone services such as FaceTime, TikTok and Uber. Soon, 5G may unleash a whole new category of must-have consumer apps and gadgets.