The situation of the MNOs was introduced in Chapter 5; they would generally prefer for 5G not to appear since it would result in additional investment, but equally they did not want to be behind their competitors in introducing new technology in case it resulted in a loss of subscribers. This leaves them with a dilemma. If they were all to critique 5G, pointing out that the costs would lower their profitability and that the services offered were not appealing to subscribers, then this might steer the industry in a more appropriate direction (such as those discussed in Chapter 8). But if one of them were critical when their competitors were supportive, their position might be exploited by their competitors who could show how they were more forward-looking. Also, if regulators felt that these companies were not engaged with future wireless communications systems, then the regulators might be less inclined to listen to them. The safest approach in this case is lukewarm support. Until late 2017 this was exactly what had been seen from most MNOs. They engaged with 5G initiatives and partnered with manufacturers so that MNOs could demonstrate high speeds on their networks and be well placed should 5G prove compelling to consumers. A few, such as Korea Telecom (who was promising to deploy in time for the 2018 Olympics—see Active Telecoms 2016), were vocal supporters. For MNOs, the risk in being supportive is relatively low during the developmental phase of 5G. Their only commitment is to a few trials and for attendance at some international meetings. They are not being asked to place orders forequipment. The risk is only a lost opportunity should 5G not turn out in a manner that would maximize their profitability. However, November 2017 saw a sudden change in MNO approach. At a major conference organized by Huawei, both Vodafone and BT were critical of 5G. Vodafone’s chief technology officer said that the key benefit of 5G was capacity gains, and that the industry should focus on this rather than new use cases (Davies 2017a). BT’s chief executive officer said that he could not find a business case for 5G and, crucially, that he had talked to his peers around the world and that they could not either (Davies 2017b). This appeared to be the beginning of a concerted campaign by MNOs that was needed to avoid leaving any MNO isolated (as mentioned earlier). This action triggered more critical papers (Bicheno 2017) from a number of analysts, who suddenly took a different opinion on 5G. Even their industry body (the GSMA) started to downplay the 5G hype in 2017. For example, in its 2017 Global Mobile Trends, the GSMA suggested a slow deployment, saying that: Regardless, early 5G deployments will focus on dense city centers using small cells. National rollouts will happen at a slower pace than 4G; by 2025, about 40% of the global population will be covered by 5G. (GSMA 2017, slide 35) In early 2018, it was unclear how widely the realism around 5G was embraced by MNOs. Despite some MNOs publicly voicing concern, others were still nervous about the implications of doing so. The mood could change slowly or might potentially swing quite quickly in an “emperor has no clothes” type of moment. The next year or so should be interesting.