Though app provider executives worry quite a lot about the potential impact of "packet prioritization" costs, mobile access providers seem to be saying there really is little business opportunity for such prioritization when 5G networks will support both millisecond latency and gigabit bandwidth.
How the routine performance of such a network creates business opportunity in the consumer internet access space is unclear. One might still argue that an opportunity exists in the fixed network business, on copper access networks.
The issue is whether access providers using copper facilities can create new "higher cost" quality-assured access services for consumer internet access when the performance of mobile networks increases so much.
Much as a fixed network internet service provider might like to believe an opportunity for value-added consumer internet access exists, that window of opportunity will start to slam shut once all four leading U.S. mobile operators offer consumer internet access with millisecond latency and hundreds of megabits per second to gigabit speeds.
Latency performance an order of magnitude (10 times) better than 4G will largely eliminate the need for any consumer to buy quality of service mechanisms based on latency issues. Likewise, bandwidth will not be an issue, either, for virtually all consumer apps.
The point is that, even if they wanted to create new "fast lanes," 5G itself will eliminate the market potential for any such services. The result is both direct (5G will work so well the standard "best effort" approach works as well as any proposed "premium" offer) and indirect (fixed networks will have to compete with 5G networks, limiting the ability to impose extra costs for quality assurance).
Forget about "fast lanes." The whole point of 5G is that every lane is a fast lane, while latency ceases to be a performance issue at all (at least in terms of the access network).
How the routine performance of such a network creates business opportunity in the consumer internet access space is unclear. One might still argue that an opportunity exists in the fixed network business, on copper access networks.
The issue is whether access providers using copper facilities can create new "higher cost" quality-assured access services for consumer internet access when the performance of mobile networks increases so much.
Much as a fixed network internet service provider might like to believe an opportunity for value-added consumer internet access exists, that window of opportunity will start to slam shut once all four leading U.S. mobile operators offer consumer internet access with millisecond latency and hundreds of megabits per second to gigabit speeds.
Latency performance an order of magnitude (10 times) better than 4G will largely eliminate the need for any consumer to buy quality of service mechanisms based on latency issues. Likewise, bandwidth will not be an issue, either, for virtually all consumer apps.
The point is that, even if they wanted to create new "fast lanes," 5G itself will eliminate the market potential for any such services. The result is both direct (5G will work so well the standard "best effort" approach works as well as any proposed "premium" offer) and indirect (fixed networks will have to compete with 5G networks, limiting the ability to impose extra costs for quality assurance).
Forget about "fast lanes." The whole point of 5G is that every lane is a fast lane, while latency ceases to be a performance issue at all (at least in terms of the access network).
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