What actually is 5G? Myths plagued new phone technology for years before coronavirus conspiracy theory took hold

The development of 4G's successor began before the fourth-generation wireless network had even rolled out. In 2008, less than a year after Steve Jobs unveiled the first ever iPhone, Nasa started work on 5G in the hope that the futuristic technology would one day facilitate "a new economy in space". It would take another year before 4G became commercially available, which together with the iPhone led the way for a decade of new apps, devices and innovation. But while 4G was an era-defining technology that boosted the speed and utility of already existing products and platforms, the fifth generation feels to some like a solution in search of a problem. While Nasa's research foreshadowed the development of a space-based internet built on 5G networks, there have yet to be any revolutionary applications that people can actually use.