5G phones and networks are here, but features and effects are unclear - BNN Bloomberg

Amid much fanfare, Canada's Big 3 telecom companies introduced fifth-generation networks in major cities earlier this year and a few smartphones with 5G capabilities are now available for sale. Yet after years of promises about next-generation wireless powering self-driving cars and robotic surgery, it's still unclear exactly what the newly launched networks are currently able to do. The short answer, experts say, is that it will take years to understand the true potential of 5G. Catherine Rosenberg, who holds the Canada Research Chair in the Future Internet and the Cisco Research Chair in 5G Systems at the University of Waterloo, says there are a lot of misconceptions. "Everybody's positioning themselves for marketing reasons, trying to say they are occupying the space of 5G, but full-fledged 5G is not for tomorrow," Rosenberg says.