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In South Korea, many people are disappointed in 5G network

Since the inauguration of 5G network service, there are many complaints about the new generation mobile network in South Korea. Some media reported that many people gave up 5G network and they decided to use 4G network again. Thus, does this trend mean the failure of new technology?

Of course, we could say it is NOT. For example, when technology diffusion is starting, new technology will experience many stages to be spread. In fact, Gartner’ Hype Cycle is one of theories to explain the progress of technology diffusion so that 5G network is “Trough of Disillusionment” stage in Hype Cycle, in other words.

What is Hype Cycle?

Based on Gartner’s HP, we can see 5 stages of Hype Cycle as follows.

• Innovation Trigger: A potential technology breakthrough kicks things off. Early proof-of-concept stories and media interest trigger significant publicity. Often no usable products exist and commercial viability is unproven.
• Peak of Inflated Expectations: Early publicity produces a number of success stories — often accompanied by scores of failures. Some companies take action; many do not.
• Trough of Disillusionment: Interest wanes as experiments and implementations fail to deliver. Producers of the technology shake out or fail. Investments continue only if the surviving providers improve their products to the satisfaction of early adopters.
• Slope of Enlightenment: More instances of how the technology can benefit the enterprise start to crystallize and become more widely understood. Second- and third-generation products appear from technology providers. More enterprises fund pilots; conservative companies remain cautious.
• Plateau of Productivity: Mainstream adoption starts to take off. Criteria for assessing provider viability are more clearly defined. The technology’s broad market applicability and relevance are clearly paying off.

Who is Gartner?

According to its Homepage, we can see the company profile of Gartner in the following way

Founded in 1979, we are the leading research and advisory company. We’ve expanded well beyond our flagship technology research to provide senior leaders across the enterprise with the indispensable business insights, advice and tools they need to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the organizations of tomorrow. Together with our clients, we fuel the future of business so that a more successful world takes shape.

The company has more than 17,000 associates and offer its services more than 100 countries. Its revenue is 4.2 billion US dollar in 2019 and it is a member of the S&P 500.

What is 5G?

Base on the instruction by Qualcomm, we can see the explanation of 5G network in the following way.

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

Connectivity is one of the key concepts in 2020s

After the arrival of the Internet, there are some buzzwords that are related to the connectivity such as the Internet of Things, the Internet of Everything, and Smart Home. Thanks to technological advancements, we can digitize our physical activities, which means that we can understand our way of life by checking THE data.

For example, we can easily check how many steps we walk everyday by using smartphone app. In fact, we can see BOSCH’s initiative. After digitizing our physical activities, we can connect them to other data, and this concept based on the connectivity.

To make connectivity better and more convenient, 5G network is essential and indispensable. That is why many countries and companies invest lots of money to the new generation mobile network and the investments sometimes cause problems from country to country. From this point of view, 5G network will be more spread sooner or later.