2018 was the year of 5G hype. The 5G reality is yet to come.

When T-Mobile's chief executive went before Senate lawmakers this year to make the case for his company's merger with Sprint, he argued that the deal could help preserve U.S. dominance in high-tech wireless networks for smartphones and other devices. "We'll make sure America wins the global 5G race," John Legere vowed. "5G will unlock capabilities that will fuel job creation and innovation well beyond what we have seen so far." The entire industry has spent much of the year marketing a dazzling future to consumers, one in which the successor to 4G LTE enables entirely new technologies, such as self-driving cars and remote medicine. But despite the hype, 5G is still a long way from becoming a reality for the majority of everyday Americans.