Pure broadband speed and low latency are not the primary objectives of 5G, said Mobile Experts.

5G should be able to achieve a 10x reduction in cost per bit compared with LTE — directed mostly toward video services of various kinds.

New 5G applications will not drive a lot of revenue.

Virtual reality will not boost 5G revenues because VR is short-range wireless, not mobile. Massive IoT will not support 5G revenue growth because we have cheaper solutions for that. Though critical IoT may bring revenue to 5G operators, revenue will grow very slowly.

Mobile Experts Principal Analyst Joe Madden said the real problem that faces mobile operators is financial: they are expected to deliver more data, but revenue growth is slowing down. Verizon’s anemic earnings outlook is a good example. They need more data at lower cost, and since about 70 percent of data traffic is video content, operators really need a cheaper pipe for video.

Mobile Experts earlier predicted that operators will rely on both low-band (<6 GHz) and high-band (20+ GHz) spectrum to achieve both coverage and capacity.

Mobile Experts predicts that the phone will not be a meaningful part of the 5G market. Instead, the battle for control over high-quality movies, shows, games, and VR will define the winners and losers in 5G space.

Mobile Experts suggests that operators use 5G to make video delivery cost-effective—but they also need to work just as hard on developing their menu of entertainment choices.