5G phones are arriving amid espionage worries; All you need to know

The 5G wireless technology now being introduced by phone companies promises to bring a world of innovations to mobile service — from connected appliances to self-driving cars — just as cable transformed television generations ago with hundreds of new channels. It also promises to bring a new global round of technology competition — one that overlaps with arguments over security that have pitted the U.S. against China and raised tensions in Europe, to the dismay of telecom executives who fear that 5G’s rollout there could be delayed.

1. What’s 5G?

5G simply stands for fifth-generation mobile networks or fifth-generation wireless systems. It will be the successor to 4G, the current top-of-the-line network technology first introduced commercially in 2009. 5G could end up being 100 times faster than 4G, with speeds that reach 10 gigabits per second. That would allow consumers to download a full-length high-definition movie in seconds. 5G will also increase total bandwidth, which will be needed to accommodate the “internet of things” — the ballooning number of linked products, from smart refrigerators to traffic lights to dog collars, that will be sending and receiving data.

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