How 5G Will Change So Much More Than Your Phone

New wireless technology promises to make everything connected. Here’s a sample of what that could mean.

The FCC recently announced a plan to encourage a blazing fast wireless service called 5G. But what is 5G? And how far is the U.S. from rolling it out? Photo: Reuters

Drew FitzGerald and

Sarah Krouse

Feb. 26, 2019 10:06 p.m. ET

The current generation of wireless technology ushered in a host of new smartphone applications that helped put the mobile phone at the center of e-commerce, socializing and navigation.

The next wave of wireless—5G—will supercharge cellphones, but its real strength lies in its potential to power the “Internet of Things,” a byword for everything electronic other than the smartphone.

That...