Several studies have concluded that 5G will be very expensive–costing nationwide US carriers tens of $billions each. That raises concerns about whether 5G is a wise investment. Operators may be able to deliver, say, five times as much data with 5G–but consumers are not going to pay five times as much to get it.
The success of 5G will depend on operators’ ability to develop new revenue streams.
Fortunately, there is more to the 5G cost story than the final price tag. While 5G could be the most expensive next-generation technology in the end, it doesn’t have to be so expensive in the beginning.
