Why Companies and Countries Are Battling for Ascendancy in 5G [telecom]

Taking an early lead in ultrafast next-generation wireless technology can give players a strategic advantage.

By Don Clark And Cecilia Kang

SAN FRANCISCO - Being at the forefront of a new technology often provides a strategic advantage. That helps explain why there is so much scrapping now by companies and countries over a next wave of wireless technology known as 5G.

5G is shorthand for fifth-generation wireless technology, and it essentially brings ultrafast wireless speeds to people. By sending billions of bits of data per second, up from peaks of hundreds of millions today, 5G could cut the time to download a movie to seconds. Other 5G features would allow autonomous cars and industrial equipment to reliably exchange short bursts of data at blinding speed.