Report: 5G Throughput Could Leapfrog Cable

According to a report from Datacomm Research, by leveraging millimeter wave spectrum, small cells, and the higher spectral efficiency of 5G, mobile operators will achieve the capacity gains needed to successfully compete with fixed broadband service providers.

"Our research indicates that 5G networks have the potential to leapfrog the capacity of cable operators' HFC networks," said Peter Rysavy, principal author of the report. "We show how to calculate the throughput per square kilometer for wireless and cable networks, and analyze all of the key variables."

Other findings indicate:

• Though 5G technology is a threat to cable operators, cable operators have an upgrade path of their own. This includes both extending fiber deeper into the network and/or using 5G technology instead of coax, especially in greenfield deployments.
• The average household consumes significantly more data per month than the average mobile user today, and household consumption is likely to multiply over the next decade as UltraHD video and virtual reality (VR) become popular.