This is really cool and obviously a major achievement, but I also question how much this kind of technology was worth investing in. Nowadays, most people's phones have wireless broadband, and I'm sure in Asia, the phone providers aren't so stingy about bandwidth caps or tethering. In other words, seems like it's already nearing obsolescence.

I don't know if mobile data caps will change a lot once 5G reach mainstream but right now i have the best plan i know in my country and it's only 25 GB per month. Let's to the math: 25GB=150Gb so i can "enjoy" 88.23 seconds (150 Gb/1.7Gb) of the shiny new 5G speed per month!

sammarbella:

I don't know if mobile data caps will change a lot once 5G reach mainstream but right now i have the best plan i know in my country and it's only 25 GB per month. Let's to the math: 25GB=150Gb so i can "enjoy" 88.23 seconds (150 Gb/1.7Gb) of the shiny new 5G speed per month!

Kinda sad those limits of yours... I have here in Finland 150/50Mb 4G mobile and everything is limitless, calls, txt, data, and its only 24.90e/month 🙂 most of the finnish ppl have these since we dont have datacaps. Waiting for 5G to arrive so i can toss my limitless 100/5mb cable connection away :P

Nomack69:

Kinda sad those limits of yours... I have here in Finland 150/50Mb 4G mobile and everything is limitless, calls, txt, data, and its only 24.90e/month 🙂 most of the finnish ppl have these since we dont have datacaps. Waiting for 5G to arrive so i can toss my limitless 100/5mb cable connection away 😛

Seriously?? I'm paying 86$ Cad with taxes and all for my shiny 7GB per month here in canada for LTE speeds.

man Canada is a joke for wireless data my plan costs the same about 90$ a month and i only got 3gb cap for the month which i share with my girlfriend because i refuse to pay anymore.

$76 CAD for 6 GB for me. Used to have unlimited way back when I had a Touch Pro 2, but those plans no longer exist. 5G doesn't interest me in the least, at least not until I can get unlimited data. If it was a choice between 5G @ 6 gigs and 4G @ unlimited I would gladly take the latter.

Completely agree with the "canada data rates are a joke" statement.

schmidtbag:

This is really cool and obviously a major achievement, but I also question how much this kind of technology was worth investing in. Nowadays, most people's phones have wireless broadband, and I'm sure in Asia, the phone providers aren't so stingy about bandwidth caps or tethering. In other words, seems like it's already nearing obsolescence.

I wouldn't say that these speeds are approaching obsolescence yet, my suspicion is that as the years roll by people will need faster and faster connections to be able to continue enjoying any and all content on their smartphones or other devices. my choice of words would be "highly futureproof"

$215/month Canadian 4G/LTE Unlimited Talk ( Nation Wide ) Unlimited Text 20GB Data HAHA I win.

€16/month 4G/LTE in France with Free. Unlimited Talk ( Nation Wide ) Unlimited Text Unlimited DATA + SPEED Who's the winner ?? ^^

Data caps = cancer

Nomack69:

Kinda sad those limits of yours... I have here in Finland 150/50Mb 4G mobile and everything is limitless, calls, txt, data, and its only 24.90e/month 🙂 most of the finnish ppl have these since we dont have datacaps. Waiting for 5G to arrive so i can toss my limitless 100/5mb cable connection away 😛

And how big is Finland, both in landmass and population? One could fit 2 of your countries inside of my Province of Alberta with room to spare, and our population is almost on par. It's not that countries such as Australia, Canada, and the USA are either lacking in service, technology, and/or overcharging in any regard. No, it's the infrastructure needed to cover such vast landscapes, and that comes at a cost, like data caps, bandwidth limiting, and high cost of adoption of new technologies. 😎

Are you canucks including a phone in that plan? Also I think Switzerland has you beat. At least in roaming, 6 euro per Mb

Wish my 4G could do even 10 Mbit consistently... and I'm using a router with an external antenna. Though the ISP support said for some reason my router connects to a mast 10 km away instead to one 4 km away. The nearer mast uses 1800 MHz freq. so I can lock the router to 1800 but the signal is nonexistent, probably why the router defaults to 800 MHz further mast.

Bansaku:

And how big is Finland, both in landmass and population? One could fit 2 of your countries inside of my Province of Alberta with room to spare, and our population is almost on par. It's not that countries such as Australia, Canada, and the USA are either lacking in service, technology, and/or overcharging in any regard. No, it's the infrastructure needed to cover such vast landscapes, and that comes at a cost, like data caps, bandwidth limiting, and high cost of adoption of new technologies. 😎

Sweden is not much bigger than Finland and you won't find limitless for such cheap here at all. I lived in Helsinki Finland for 5 years and then moved back and was distraught just how behind Sweden was on this. The difference is likely due to what the governments prioritize. Caps also mean a lot of profit for the businesses, so this is why they are not removed.

Yes, imo, wireless is by far the biggest rip off today in technology. Apparently, many people are suckers for internet-connected cell phones, and the manufacturers like Apple and Samsung see you coming from miles away--and charge you through the roof, too! Wired Internet at home is so much better a value than xG, it's incredible that *anyone* is still using a xG cell phone. Right now I've got ~13mb/s (mega-bYtes) down and up, unlimited cap and access for ~$20 a month in a package deal through a Comcast fiber EWAN! That's it. I carry a dumb phone (gee, who would have thought of using a cell phone to make phone calls and nothing else!? I must be a genius...;)) Anything I need the Internet for I do at home *before* I leave...! The money you can save is quite substantial. This really shows how stupid the net-neutrality people are, imo. Under all of Obama's vaunted "nn" rules--xG wireless Internet service wasn't affected at all! You get charged for ridiculous 5GB per month caps, all kinds of fees, etc. Bottom line is I could easily pay 5X what I am paying now for wired for a much inferior service product with utterly stupid caps built in. If you go on a road trip, the very nice side of carrying a printed map with you instead of relying on Google/Apple is that when I leave a wireless service zone the printed map still works...;)

waltc3:

Yes, imo, wireless is by far the biggest rip off today in technology. Apparently, many people are suckers for internet-connected cell phones, and the manufacturers like Apple and Samsung see you coming from miles away--and charge you through the roof, too! Wired Internet at home is so much better a value than xG, it's incredible that *anyone* is still using a xG cell phone. Right now I've got ~13mb/s (mega-bYtes) down and up, unlimited cap and access for ~$20 a month in a package deal through a Comcast fiber EWAN! That's it. I carry a dumb phone (gee, who would have thought of using a cell phone to make phone calls and nothing else!? I must be a genius...;)) Anything I need the Internet for I do at home *before* I leave...! The money you can save is quite substantial. This really shows how stupid the net-neutrality people are, imo. Under all of Obama's vaunted "nn" rules--xG wireless Internet service wasn't affected at all! You get charged for ridiculous 5GB per month caps, all kinds of fees, etc. Bottom line is I could easily pay 5X what I am paying now for wired for a much inferior service product with utterly stupid caps built in. If you go on a road trip, the very nice side of carrying a printed map with you instead of relying on Google/Apple is that when I leave a wireless service zone the printed map still works...;)

Buying the latest phone for 400$ with a 90$ a month plan is quite silly for most of the people who get such deals, you don't need to be a millionaire to have a decent smartphone and a small data plan, why not use a generation old phone at way less than half the cost while using a small 1GB plan? A lot of us spend a ton of time out of our home and need internet on the go. I'd be miserable with caveman internet like yours lol

One thing is certain. We can rest easy and not stress over 5G much for the time being. None of current gen smartphones supports it anyway afaik. 😛

Canada's ISP are making out like bandits when it comes to wireless. I have a wireless router that I bought from them (ZTE) and the only Plans they offer are the following (I have Flex Heavy)... http://www.rogers.com/consumer/wireless/mobile-internet-plans?ipn=1

LimitbreakOr:

Buying the latest phone for 400$ with a 90$ a month plan is quite silly for most of the people who get such deals, you don't need to be a millionaire to have a decent smartphone and a small data plan, why not use a generation old phone at way less than half the cost while using a small 1GB plan? A lot of us spend a ton of time out of our home and need internet on the go. I'd be miserable with caveman internet like yours lol

What's "caveman" about his internet? He can stream 2x 4K movies at the same time. You need more speed for facebook or? 🙂

Just because north America charges an arm and a leg for Internet, doesn't mean everyone does. Partially enabled by "let the market regulate itself" crap. In 2007 everyone in the US was telling me how dsl isnt future proof and behind what cable can do, i had 16/1Mbit dsl with unlimited data/phone and included modem/router for 39$ a month in germany. Same for cell. And even nowadays they offer unlimited cell plans with data/calls/txt incl 4g for 30€/month. And even in the US i now pay 70$ for tmobile unlimited 4g data (150/50Mbit)/calls/txt and no real data cap, as only speed drops, but I've never experienced that, even in month when i used 50-200gb. And data caps have nothing to do with infrastructure, only bandwidth limits..