‘Ubiquitous Connectivity’ via 5G Still a Ways Off, Says Mobile Analytics Firm

That 5G wireless service is “super fast” but scarcely available are among key “things to know” about the technology for consumers weighing a 5G smartphone purchase this holiday, said Opensignal Friday. The mobile analytics firm measured 5G service performance in the U.S., Australia, Switzerland and South Korea, and found users are experiencing download speeds exceeding 1 Gbps, with U.S. speeds topping out at 1.8 Gbps, it said. “As 5G evolves, we expect to continue to see increasing speeds.” Only 1 percent of the speed tests Opensignal did recently “actually used an active 5G connection,” it said. “While users may have a 5G phone, it will take a bit longer to find ubiquitous connectivity.” Though industry 5G chatter has been going on for a while, “the technology is still in its early days and there is lots more to come,” it said. Future stand-alone 5G networks “will require totally new core infrastructure, which take longer to create, but will help usher in some of the biggest benefits of 5G such as lowering latency and improving network congestion.”