Only a fifth of Britons believe that 5G connectivity (opens in a new tab) will change their lives, suggesting that the mobile industry's belief that next-generation networks will transform society and industry has not captured the imagination of the general public.
The UK is the third most pessimistic country in the YouGov ranking, with 36% saying they neither disagree nor disagree that 5G would benefit them.
Globally, 51% believed 5G would bring improvements and only 15% said it would bring no benefits.
5G deployment
5G networks offer faster speeds, higher capacity, and much lower latency than previous generations of mobile technology.
This means that 5G can enable data-intensive and latency-sensitive consumer applications, support massive IoT networks, and connect critical industrial systems to cellular infrastructure for the first time.
However, it is arguable that the jump from 4G to 5G is less revolutionary than what was from 3G to 4G in terms of mobile broadband, at least in the eyes of the consumer. Meanwhile, many of the most revolutionary services, such as virtual reality and gaming, are not yet mass-market propositions.
The results show that operators and the broader mobile ecosystem still have work to do to convince consumers of the virtues of 5G.
However, early adoption of the technology has not been hindered. Ericsson estimates that there will be more than one billion 5G mobile subscriptions by the end of the year (opens in a new tab), a number that will reach 4.400 billion by 2027. Within five years, 5G will account for 90% of all mobile subscriptions in the world. North America, 82% in Western Europe and 74% in Northeast Asia