What are the advantages and disadvantages of 5G technology in the US?

5G will require entirely new devices and technologies

Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of 5G technology in the US?
Position‹2 of 2: 5G deployment is bad
Argument‹2 of 2: 5G will require entirely new devices and technologies

Similar to the country-wide transition from analog to digital television in 2009, 5G technology will require the development and purchase of new devices and technologies that can support it.

The argument

5G will work in a world that is mostly 4G, but 4G will not work in a world that is mostly 5G. While new 5G devices can operate on a 4G LTE network, it cannot work the other way around. Although nationwide 5G rollout will take several years, you will eventually be required to purchase a 5G-compatible phone, laptop, television, et cetera. At first, this may not seem like a huge deal, but due to the fact that this is a new and much more advanced technology, prices will be incredibly high. This is proven by Samsung's lineup of 5G-enabled smartphones; the Galaxy S10 5G phones began at $750, while the Galaxy S20 began at $1,000. Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus - a smartphone-manufacturing company known for their products' affordability - has confirmed that their 5G would be more expensive, because 5G technology "add[s] cost". Prices will eventually go down, but while 5G is still a relatively new phenomenon, some consumers may have difficulty affording new devices. All-new devices will also lead to an increase in e-waste, due to consumers throwing away and replacing their old devices at a higher rate. Currently, only 15% of electronics are recycled responsibly. This creates concern for potential environmental consequences following a nationwide 5G rollout.

Premises

[P1]A full 5G rollout will eventually force consumers to replace their phones, laptops and other devices with 5G-compatible ones. [P2] These new devices are expensive — early 5G phones cost between $750 and $1,000 — putting them out of reach for some consumers. [P3] Mass replacement of devices also increases electronic waste, of which only about 15% is responsibly recycled, raising environmental concerns. [C] Therefore, because it forces costly new devices and more e-waste, 5G deployment is bad.

Counter-arguments

5G is more of a complement to than a replacement for 4G; it is building on top of and improving features that 4G already has. According to AT&T vice president Gordon Mansfield, "many aspects of [the old and new network] are shared", and "some things we'll do for 5G are inherently backward compatible and will lift the capabilities of 4G". It will be a long time until 4G is completely phased out, so you don't need to worry about buying a new phone yet.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The premise treats a gradual overlay as a cut-off. 5G was built on existing 4G infrastructure and much of it is shared; AT&T's Gordon Mansfield has described aspects of the networks as backward compatible and as lifting 4G's capabilities. 4G devices keep working on 4G networks, so the rollout forces no replacement — handsets turn over on the ordinary upgrade cycle either way. [Rejecting P2] Launch prices for a new radio technology are not the prices consumers meet across a rollout the argument itself says takes years. The premise concedes that prices fall, which removes the affordability barrier over the same period in which replacement would occur. [Rejecting P3] The waste attributable to 5G is the replacement brought forward, not the whole replacement cycle, and the low recycling rate is a fact about how e-waste is handled with or without 5G. Counting the entire figure against 5G assumes devices would otherwise be kept indefinitely.