IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v45y2021i5s030859612100032x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Revisiting Wireless Internet Connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6

Author

Listed:
  • Oughton, Edward J.
  • Lehr, William
  • Katsaros, Konstantinos
  • Selinis, Ioannis
  • Bubley, Dean
  • Kusuma, Julius

Abstract

In recent years, significant attention has been directed toward the fifth generation of wireless broadband connectivity known as ‘5G’, currently being deployed by Mobile Network Operators. Surprisingly, there has been considerably less attention paid to ‘Wi-Fi 6’, the new IEEE 802.1ax standard in the family of Wireless Local Area Network technologies with features targeting private, edge-networks. This paper revisits the suitability of cellular and Wi-Fi in delivering high-speed wireless Internet connectivity. Both technologies aspire to deliver significantly enhanced performance, enabling each to deliver much faster wireless broadband connectivity, and provide further support for the Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine communications, positioning the two technologies as technical substitutes in many usage scenarios. We conclude that both are likely to play important roles in the future, and simultaneously serve as competitors and complements. We anticipate that 5G will remain the preferred technology for wide-area coverage, while Wi-Fi 6 will remain the preferred technology for indoor use, thanks to its much lower deployment costs. However, the traditional boundaries that differentiated earlier generations of cellular and Wi-Fi are blurring. Proponents of one technology may argue for the benefits of their chosen technology displacing the other, requesting regulatory policies that would serve to tilt the marketplace in their favour. We believe such efforts need to be resisted, and that both technologies have important roles to play in the marketplace, based on the needs of heterogeneous use cases. Both technologies should contribute to achieving the goal of providing affordable, reliable, and ubiquitously available high-capacity wireless broadband connectivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Oughton, Edward J. & Lehr, William & Katsaros, Konstantinos & Selinis, Ioannis & Bubley, Dean & Kusuma, Julius, 2021. "Revisiting Wireless Internet Connectivity: 5G vs Wi-Fi 6," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:45:y:2021:i:5:s030859612100032x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102127
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030859612100032X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102127?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohammed H. Alsharif & Rosdiadee Nordin, 2017. "Evolution towards fifth generation (5G) wireless networks: Current trends and challenges in the deployment of millimetre wave, massive MIMO, and small cells," Telecommunication Systems: Modelling, Analysis, Design and Management, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 617-637, April.
    2. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-337, May.
    3. Miles Parker & Andrew Acland & Harry J Armstrong & Jim R Bellingham & Jessica Bland & Helen C Bodmer & Simon Burall & Sarah Castell & Jason Chilvers & David D Cleevely & David Cope & Lucia Costanzo & , 2014. "Identifying the Science and Technology Dimensions of Emerging Public Policy Issues through Horizon Scanning," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-17, May.
    4. West, Joel & Mace, Michael, 0. "Browsing as the killer app: Explaining the rapid success of Apple's iPhone," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5-6), pages 270-286, June.
    5. Massaro, Maria & Beltrán, Fernando, 2020. "Will 5G lead to more spectrum sharing? Discussing recent developments of the LSA and the CBRS spectrum sharing frameworks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7).
    6. Rendon Schneir, Juan & Ajibulu, Ade & Konstantinou, Konstantinos & Bradford, Julie & Zimmermann, Gerd & Droste, Heinz & Canto, Rafael, 2019. "A business case for 5G mobile broadband in a dense urban area," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    7. Bauer, Johannes M., 2018. "The Internet and income inequality: Socio-economic challenges in a hyperconnected society," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 333-343.
    8. Saint, Martin & Brown, Timothy X, 2019. "A dynamic policy license for flexible spectrum management," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 23-37.
    9. Matinmikko, Marja & Latva-aho, Matti & Ahokangas, Petri & Seppänen, Veikko, 2018. "On regulations for 5G: Micro licensing for locally operated networks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 622-635.
    10. Lehr, William & McKnight, Lee W., 0. "Wireless Internet access: 3G vs. WiFi?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5-6), pages 351-370, June.
    11. Stocker, Volker & Smaragdakis, Georgios & Lehr, William & Bauer, Steven, 2017. "The growing complexity of content delivery networks: Challenges and implications for the Internet ecosystem," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1003-1016.
    12. Edward Oughton, 2017. "The Strategic National Infrastructure Assessment of Digital Communications," Working Papers 2017/02, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    13. Forge, Simon & Vu, Khuong, 2020. "Forming a 5G strategy for developing countries: A note for policy makers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7).
    14. Mansell, Robin, 1999. "Information and communication technologies for development: assessing the potential and the risks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 35-50, February.
    15. Massaro, Maria, 2017. "Next generation of radio spectrum management: Licensed shared access for 5G," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 422-433.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oughton, Edward J. & Comini, Niccolò & Foster, Vivien & Hall, Jim W., 2022. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Edward J. Oughton & Tom Russell & Jeongjin Oh & Sara Ballan & Jim W. Hall, 2023. "Global Vulnerability Assessment of Mobile Telecommunications Infrastructure to Climate Hazards using Crowdsourced Open Data," Papers 2311.04392, arXiv.org.
    3. Blind, Knut & Niebel, Crispin, 2022. "5G roll-out failures addressed by innovation policies in the EU," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    4. Mika Hoppari & Mikko Uitto & Jukka Mäkelä & Ilkka Harjula & Seppo Rantala, 2021. "Performance of the 5th Generation Indoor Wireless Technologies-Empirical Study," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-11, July.
    5. Mendonça, Sandro & Damásio, Bruno & Charlita de Freitas, Luciano & Oliveira, Luís & Cichy, Marcin & Nicita, António, 2022. "The rise of 5G technologies and systems: A quantitative analysis of knowledge production," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lähteenmäki, Jarno, 2021. "The evolution paths of neutral host businesses: Antecedents, strategies, and business models," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10).
    2. Queder, Fabian & Lehr, William & Haucap, Justus, 2020. "5G and Mobile Broadband Disruption," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224872, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Cecere, Grazia & Corrocher, Nicoletta & Battaglia, Riccardo David, 2015. "Innovation and competition in the smartphone industry: Is there a dominant design?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 162-175.
    4. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Stocker, Volker & Whalley, Jason, 2018. "Public Policy Targets in EU Broadband Markets: The Role of Technological Neutrality," 29th European Regional ITS Conference, Trento 2018 184936, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    5. Medeisis, Arturas & Fomin, Vladislav & Webb, William, 2022. "Untangling the paradox of Licensed Shared Access: Need for regulatory refocus," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8).
    6. Edward J. Oughton & Ashutosh Jha, 2021. "Supportive 5G Infrastructure Policies are Essential for Universal 6G: Assessment using an Open-source Techno-economic Simulation Model utilizing Remote Sensing," Papers 2102.08086, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.
    7. Hoeschele, Thomas & Dietzel, Christoph & Kopp, Daniel & Fitzek, Frank H.P. & Reisslein, Martin, 2021. "Importance of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) infrastructure for 5G: Estimating the impact of 5G use cases," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    8. Lehr, William & Queder, Fabian & Haucap, Justus, 2021. "5G: A new future for Mobile Network Operators, or not?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(3).
    9. Jörg Freiling, 2015. "Getting off the Track to Found – The Influence of Path Dependence on the Entrepreneurial Process (Zbaczajac z drogi ku zalozeniu przedsiebiorstwa – wplyw zaleznosci od szlaku na proces przedsiebiorczy," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 13(56), pages 13-37.
    10. Scaglione, Miriam & Giovannetti, Emanuele & Hamoudia, Mohsen, 2015. "The diffusion of mobile social networking: Exploring adoption externalities in four G7 countries," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 1159-1170.
    11. Ahokangas, Petri & Matinmikko-Blue, Marja & Yrjölä, Seppo & Hämmäinen, Heikki, 2021. "Platform configurations for local and private 5G networks in complex industrial multi-stakeholder ecosystems," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5).
    12. Oughton, Edward J. & Comini, Niccolò & Foster, Vivien & Hall, Jim W., 2022. "Policy choices can help keep 4G and 5G universal broadband affordable," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    13. Kim, Dong-hyu & Lee, Heejin, 2016. "Effects of user experience on user resistance to change to the voice user interface of an in‑vehicle infotainment system: Implications for platform and standards competition," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 653-667.
    14. Edward J. Oughton & William Lehr, 2022. "Surveying 5G Techno-Economic Research to Inform the Evaluation of 6G Wireless Technologies," Papers 2201.02272, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2022.
    15. Heinrich, Torsten, 2015. "A Replicator Dynamic and Simulation Analysis of Network Externalities and Compatibility Among Standards," MPRA Paper 67198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Stocker, Volker & Whalley, Jason, 2020. "Public policy targets in EU broadband markets: The role of technological neutrality," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5).
    17. Wiebke Roß & Jens Weghake, 2018. "Wa(h)re Liebe: Was Online-Dating-Plattformen über zweiseitige Märkte lehren," TUC Working Papers in Economics 0017, Abteilung für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Technische Universität Clausthal (Department of Economics, Technical University Clausthal).
    18. Marta Gancarczyk, 2010. "Model schyłku i odrodzenia klastrów," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 1-21.
    19. Markendahl, Jan & Beckman, Claes, 2022. "Can local 5G networks using local spectrum be used as platform for digitalization of industrial systems and services?," 31st European Regional ITS Conference, Gothenburg 2022: Reining in Digital Platforms? Challenging monopolies, promoting competition and developing regulatory regimes 265657, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    20. Narduzzo, Alessandro & Warglien, Massimo, 1996. "Learning from the Experience of Others: An Experiment on Information Contagion," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(1), pages 113-126.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:45:y:2021:i:5:s030859612100032x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.