Will Intel's official exit from the 5G phone modem race lock consumers out of a 5G future?
Intel announced, on April 16th, that it is officially leaving the 5g modem market to other developers and turning its focus toward more financially feasible computer modem and infrastructural development.
Having left the horse race in the yet to the realized 5G horizon, competitors such as Qualcomm will take the seat as the modem developers for Apple's, soon to be expected, iPhone 5G.
The departure of Intel raises numerous questions as to the need and practical potential of a 5G network taking over anytime in the near future.
Before going into the barriers involved in organizing 5G networks, it would make sense to give a brief overview of the factual advantages of the network – in other words: what is all the hype about?
RELATED: IS 5G HARMFUL FOR HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
4G is run on cables while 5G will primarily operate on the cloud. This has the advantage of 100x better running capacity. This will dramatically augment internet speed.
Applying these findings to PC modems, CNBC International conjectures a two-hour movie will take 3.6 seconds to load on a 5G modem and up to 6 minutes on a 4G network.
What are the essential barriers?
There are three essential hurdles modem developers must circumnavigate in order to effectively develop their 5G networks.
Another issue that has attracted lesser attention but remains of concern is the fear of radiation. The city of Brussels shutdown a 5g trial this month on the grounds of such concerns. There is still said to be no conclusive evidence as to the severity of the threat.
Finally, there is concern about the security of 5G 'cloudified' data. Unlike the secure encryptions available in data transmission ground in physical wiring, the cloud may be vulnerable to interception. Concerned with the security of Chinese developers, such as Huawei's chips, the Australian government has cautioned against their usage.
What, then, is Intel's direction?