The rollout of 5G technology is predicted to be delayed in most markets for most providers by about three to six months.

For the past few years, almost every cellular wireless company in the US has been planning for and launching the next generation of wireless technology, called 5G. Estimates are that 5G technology will be between 10 and 100 times the speed of the previous generation of wireless technology (4G LTE) and will (i) replace the need for wireline service in many locations and (ii) provide the equivalent of wireline service to areas that are currently not served by wireline service. Most companies have already launched 5G in select cities and, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, had plans to expand to other markets as quickly as possible. That will likely no longer be the case for most providers.

A few of the reasons for the anticipated delay of 5G rollout are:

• An expected interruption in the supply of 5G equipment and an expected shortfall in 5G-enabled phones
  • Factories that produce 5G-enabled phones and equipment have been shut down for months and some analysts are expecting a 30% shortfall in shipments for 5G-enabled phones
  • Borders remain closed for nonessential goods. Even if the 5G-enabled equipment and phones were produced on schedule, they may be delayed to the end user and customers by weeks and, possibly, months
• The need to focus resources on the increased demand for standard (4G LTE) cellular wireless service. Although most areas did not have any issues caused by the sudden increased demand, some areas were overwhelmed by the spike in usage, causing cellular wireless providers to allocate resources to keep up. In other words, continuing existing service took priority over the expansion of 5G technology for some providers

There is still optimism among many in the industry that 2020 will be a major year for 5G development and that 2021 will become the year of 5G. Verizon has stated that it is moving forward with 5G improvements and is expecting to spend $500 million more on capital expenditure in 2020 than planned.

While most providers are expecting delays, T-Mobile has made commitments in the context of its merger with Sprint that probably preclude a slowdown in the rollout of their 5G technology. Similarly, DISH's commitments as part of the merger settlement mean that, if anything, the pace of its deployment of 5G technology will likely speed up despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.