4G versus 5G: balancing today’s capabilities and tomorrow’s promise
Access this insight with a Standard plan. Contact our sales team to get started.
As 5G network rollouts and service launches move forward, mobile operators and vendors face critical decisions: how do they divide their attention and investment between 4G and 5G? How do they invest in network infrastructure? How do they invest in technology development and messaging? This is part of nearly every technology transition. Yet, despite its familiarity, it is still a real issue for service providers. Where they put their resources (time and money) affects how they can address market demand, along with the image they present to the market.
This dynamic was on display at Mobile World Congress Shanghai recently, with the show providing insight into how the market and vendors were handling the need to split attention between today’s capabilities and tomorrow’s promise.
Report details
4G versus 5G: balancing today’s capabilities and tomorrow’s promise
Report details
4G versus 5G: balancing today’s capabilities and tomorrow’s promise
Related research
The SpaceX IPO: a reality check
The SpaceX IPO prospectus frames a total addressable market (TAM) of $28.5 trillion across AI, connectivity and space-enabled infrastructure. The mobile TAM is listed at $740 billion. Starlink is positioning direct-to-device (D2D) as a global connectivity layer spanning consumer mobility, verticals and eventually coverage in urban areas. This raises broader questions for the telecoms industry around spectrum ownership, infrastructure economics, neutral-host models and regulatory oversight. This Insight Spotlight assesses these questions and grounds the TAM for mobile in reality.
Global Mobile Forecasts, Q1 2026 Review: capturing the changes, discussing the drivers
GSMA Intelligence constantly monitors mobile markets across the world to capture the most recent trends and share the latest available data. This analysis looks at the key revisions made to the mobile connection forecasts over the previous quarter and the drivers underpinning the changes.
Industry Checkpoint: MVNOs, Q2 2026
As the telecoms industry and wider digital ecosystem evolve at an unprecedented rate, regularly assessing major developments and their implications is more important than ever. This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on the MVNO segment, highlighting how it has changed in the last six months and the implications.
Authors
How to access this report
Annual subscription: Subscribe to our research modules for comprehensive access to more than 200 reports per year.
Enquire about subscriptionContact our research team
Get in touch with us to find out more about our research topics and analysis.
Contact our research teamMedia
To cite our research, please see our citation policy in our Terms of Use, or contact our Media team for more information.
Learn more- 200 reports a year
- 50 million data points
- Over 350 metrics
How can we support you?
Get in touch
Contact the GSMA Intelligence support team for help with your account, subscriptions, or access to reports and insights.
Newsletter
Subscribe to the GSMA Intelligence newsletter for the latest industry news and insights, delivered to your inbox.