5G aimed at those pesky cord cutters

It’s been the bane of any TV lover. They get frustrated with their provider and want to switch but have few options.  For residents of four select markets this year, 5G could be change that. There are the four markets Verizon will be testing 5G in later this year.

The 5G networks have been touted as the next big thing for wireless consumers, a way for them to get lower latency, with videos that will open immediately and downloads that will take seconds instead of minutes. But no true 5G phones are available now, and iPhones expected in September probably won’t be able to access 5G signals either.

Where will we see 5G first? In our living rooms, with 4 gigabit per second speeds.  Many times faster than most americans are used to.  Speeds usually reserved for data centers, the government, academia, and internet backbones.  From the same companies that have been providing broadband in the home for years.

This week, Verizon touted home broadband for its 5G tests and said it would partner with Apple TV for the set-top box and YouTubeTV, the cable TV alternative, when it launches later this year. ATT is set to test 5G as well later, but in nine markets instead of four.

We saw many other 5G announcements this week, but few had much going for them. Motorola released what it says is the first 5G-capable phone, the MotoZ3, but there’s a catch. It won’t work with 5G until service starts, and consumers will need an adapter to bring in 5G signals. Sprint said it would release a phone from LG that worked with 5G,  but not until 2019.

Cord-cutting has become a worldwide phenomenon as consumers tired of spending countless sums of money for the few things they actually want and a bunch of stuff they don’t.  ATT, which owns DirecTV, is currently the No. 1 broadband provider, and Verizon is still a major cable tv provider.  Connectivity might get a little cheaper, but the cost of video will rise as greedy entertainment and sports companies jack up their rates, and consumers are urged to order more monthly streaming services.  It’s not likely to see wireless 5G happening until 2019 at the earliest, becoming more widespread in 2020.