The actual value of 5G is in facilitating autonomous robotics and industrial automation as opposed to stuff like mobile phones. It’s high bandwidth and low latency which allows

The rubric “smart cities” encompasses a complex of 5G-enabled technologies that will drastically reduce freight and package delivery times, passenger waiting time, labor costs and energy utilization. With high-speed 5G available at almost all of China’s major urban centers now, China already has introduced autonomous vehicles for urban personal transport. Most Chinese cities are new with main thoroughfares that can easily accommodate autonomous vehicles. The low latency (very rapid response time) of 5G allows autonomous vehicles to communicate with each other almost instantly, a critical safety feature. Following this, China has begun to control urban traffic flow with central computers that match passengers and packages to vehicles, including drones.

Moreover, in terms of commercial efficiency, China has made operational fully automated warehouses, pioneered by the Chinese Internet retailers Alibaba and JD.com. It has integrated urban hubs with suburban spokes through high-speed trains. And it Used the Internet of Things (IoT) and “smart” solar panels to reduce the energy cost of heating and cooling buildings.

According to Chinese industry sources, 5,000 private industrial 5G networks already are in place in China, with another 50,000 expected to be completed in the next year.9 These include the automated ports in Shanghai’s Yangshan Container Port, the world’s largest, as well as industrial robotics, autonomous vehicles, and other applications. Comparable networks in the US and Europe for the most part are experimental rather than operational. The Trump Administration’s sanctions against sale of components including semiconductors made with U.S. equipment or intellectual property appeared to have slowed China’s 5G rollout only slightly.

https://dc.claremont.org/how-america-can-lose-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/