This article from PC Mag takes a sober look at the 5G promises. Both the 5G vendors and the big cellular providers want us to believe that "5G" is going to solve all our broadband problems, but like every previous wireless "breakthrough," which typically arrive about every 6-8 years, the promises rarely materialize.
This discusses what 5G might offer for rural areas, and the so-called "rural solution" is actually fiber! The article agrees with what we have been saying for several years--that running fiber down rural roads and then using wireless to connect to homes that may be set well back from the road might be worth looking at.
And we have been studying that in detail. The last time we ran cost estimates to compare fiber drops from the road to the home with wireless from the road to the home, the fiber drops were cheaper. The idea that 5G is ideal for short runs between a fiber cable at the road side and a home set back from the road is almost laughable, since you could do that with existing off the shelf wireless gear for a lot less--probably by an order of magnitude.
Design Nine and WideOpen Networks, our sister company, are not equipment resellers or VARs, so we are free to design networks that meet local conditions and budgets, using the most cost effective equipment.