Though it will take some time to play out, there is likely to remain some controversy about use of millimeter wave, low-band and mid-band spectrum to support 5G.
On a commercial level, some service providers will tout the lower capital investment and wider coverage of lower-band spectrum, even if capacity is thereby limited. Others will emphasize the capacity advantages of millimeter wave spectrum, even if coverage is more complicated.
As always, there is a trade off between capacity and coverage. The former is better for bandwidth; the latter is better for efficient signal availability. That does not change in the 5G era.
One reason many would agree mid-band spectrum is important is that it balances coverage with capacity, especially when 4G spectrum is aggregated to work with new 5G spectrum assets or when 5G is augmented with Wi-Fi or other unlicensed spectrum.
But, by design, 5G is designed to be relatively spectrum agnostic, within the general constraints of manufacturing economies.
Over time, as older networks are shut down and spectrum is redeployed, more lower-band spectrum will be available to support the next-generation networks (5G, 6G, others), though the value there will remain coverage more than capacity.
To some extent, available spectrum resources are a driving issue. In some countries, there is more low-band or mid-band spectrum available to deploy. Some service providers have more spectrum resources in low or mid-range bands.
As difficult as millimeter wave might be, there is another angle. Over time, especially as we move towards 6G, there is likely to be demand for millimeter wave, as that remains the only unencumbered spectrum remaining.
With all of its challenges, it might ultimately prove useful that some service providers have been forced to learn how to use those assets efficiently and effectively.
The issue is perhaps equally the ability to wring economic value out of the assets, not just the radio propagation and engineering issues. But even as a matter of producing value from spectrum use, millimeter is going to be important, even as other low-band and mid-band spectrum is refarmed.
Frequency and capacity are directly related. So if capacity growth remains an issue, then higher-frequency assets must be used. Ultimately, use of millimeter wave spectrum is about cost per bit as well as capacity gains.
One obvious use case where millimeter wave capacity really is an advantage is edge computing to support high-bandwidth, low latency apps, including virtual reality and augmented reality in high-density areas.
Value also seems to be clear when large amounts of sensor or other data must be processed fast, and where edge computing provides operating cost savings (wide area network bandwidth). Some video security apps might be an example.
Digital signage (advertising) is probably another enterprise-focused use case, wherever lots of bandwidth is required (video) and where localization is necessary.
As has been true for 3G and 4G, different countries have been able to wring different amounts of value out of mobile networks, at any frequency. That is likely to be true in the 5G era as well, other considerations aside.
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