ABSTRACT:

The next-generation cellular network known as 5G is propelled with more marketing hype than foundational substance.  The exponential projections for billions or even trillions of edge devices attached to the network utilizing massive bandwidth and traffic growth are starting from an assumption that both the network and energy infrastructures exist to support such projections, which is a fundamental flaw as things exist today when you look at it from a more pragmatic view.  This talk is intended to provide some simple, yet realistic examples of the gaps that exist between the marketing projections and the reality of the situation from a number of different perspectives, including technical, market opportunity, and how these all intersect to determine the viability of the business case for what we are calling “5G” today.