Indoor space has been a big coverage issue for mobile operators, and has created space for Wi-Fi to become a key part of access infrastructure. But some argue 5G will start to shift access back towards mobile networks. In the 3G era, users switched to Wi-Fi at times because it did not apply against their usage allowances, and in part because Wi-Fi tended to offer faster access than did the 3G network.
That changed in the 4G era, when Wi-Fi generally became slower than the mobile network.
In the 5G era, there is likely to be more use of the mobile network, in part because of spectrum aggregation. Tariffs and usage allowances also will make a difference.
In the 5G era, it is conceivable that Wi-Fi offload will happen less than it did in the 3G and 4G eras.
That might be aided by a number of other changes, beyond 5G usage allowances and tariffs. Indoor coverage by small cell might include access to virtual networks that offer consumers of business users network features not available on the Wi-Fi network, and enabled by network slicing, for example.
If, for example, network slicing is used to create differentiated speed tiers (gold, silver, bronze) plans, mobile customers will lose the advantage of their premium plans when switching to Wi-Fi.
If one assumes outdoor space will be the place where mobile coverage is most valuable, indoor space will remain a more-contested arena where access options will be more diverse, where third parties will have a greater role, where the ability to support private network features at the indoor edge will open up new possibilities for end users, mobile operators and third parties.
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