According to T-Mobile, the speeds supported by its new mid-frequency 5G network are pushing its customers away from Wi-Fi networks.

It is worth noting that 5G supporters have long believed that compared with wired and Wi-Fi networks, 5G networks will carry more and more global data traffic. After all, 5G promises not only to provide fast connections, but also to provide greater network capacity. Since smartphones are essential to most Americans, some in the 5G industry hope that the technology can bring more traffic through cellular networks and ultimately bring greater profits.

“Historically, Wi-Fi has provided us with the speed and capacity we need to stay connected anytime, anywhere,” T-Mobile wrote in a recent article on the company’s website. “But today, the ultra-fast 5G network makes us forget Wi-Fi.”

T-Mobile provided some vague data points to support its point of view. The company said that in its most expensive Magenta Max 5G data package, the number of customers connected to Wi-Fi has decreased by 13%. In terms of hotspot usage－customers can connect laptops and tablets to their 5G connections through Wi-Fi links－T-Mobile said that 80% of Magenta Max customers provide Wi-Fi hotspots through their 5G connections. And their hotspot usage rate increased by an average of 20% over the weekend. Finally, T-Mobile stated that its Magenta Max customers consume three times as much hotspot data as other T-Mobile customers. However, T-Mobile did not provide more details, such as the increased time frame. The company also pointed out that Magenta Max customers’ high-speed hotspot data is limited to 40GB per month.

Therefore, T-Mobile’s latest post clearly indicates that the company hopes to sell its high-speed 5G network in locations such as airports and coffee shops as an alternative to Wi-Fi. The company explained: “The 5G network uses advanced encryption technology to make it more secure than unencrypted public Wi-Fi by stopping searching for Wi-Fi and asking for passwords. Instead, use your smartphone as a high-speed for yourself and others’ hotspot.”

Overall, 5G still has a long way to go before it takes the leading share of global network traffic. According to statistics from network equipment supplier Cisco, fixed and Wi-Fi networks handled 52.6% of the total global Internet traffic in 2021. At the same time, mobile networks including 4G and 5G networks only handled 20.5% of the total global Internet traffic in 2021. However, according to Cisco’s survey results, the trend line favors mobile networks. The company reports that fixed and Wi-Fi networks handled approximately 52.1% of total Internet traffic in 2016-almost the same number as in 2021. At the same time, global mobile networks only handled 9.8% of total Internet traffic in 2016, but this number more than doubled in 2021.

T-Mobile hopes to accelerate this widespread trend by selling 5G-powered home Internet connections. In places where smartphone traffic is low and network capacity is idle, the company is selling home modems that directly compete with Cable, DSL, and other fixed Internet providers. T-Mobile already has more than 500,000 fixed wireless Internet customers, and this number is expected to increase to 8 million in the next few years.

However, the Wi-Fi industry is not awaiting its doom. Supporters of Wi-Fi recently introduced a new set of specifications-Wi-Fi 6, which supports more features and functions. In addition, the FCC recently allocated a large amount of spectrum to unlicensed operators such as Wi-Fi, which will provide greater capacity for such networks.