More than the speed of 5G, I'm hoping for its capacity. If it offers 40x the capacity of 4G (within the same amount of spectrum), it could become a good contender to replace home broadband (and add a lot of competition). T-Mobile already offers 7GB for $50 and 40x that would be 280GB, plenty for most home users. Fixed broadband prices could be significantly cheaper than mobile broadband and installed antennas could offer better reliability and and speed than mobile devices.

It could create a much nicer and more competitive market for home broadband. With AT&T owning DirecTV and Dish owning a bunch of spectrum, there are two companies that could want to do installed, fixed home broadband in the 5G era to support a triple-play of wireless, tv, and home-broadband. Sprint is sitting on over 200MHz of spectrum in most areas with a lot of it being high frequency BRS and EBS spectrum (2.5GHz). Installed, fixed, directional antennas would work a lot nicer with that spectrum than mobile devices and it would offer up a new revenue stream for a company that has lost $50B since 2006.

If 5G really has a big boost in capacity, it could make a big impact against home-broadband monopolies. Wired might still offer a better experience for enthusiasts, but given that a lot of people I know want to save $20 a month and drop from 110Mbps to 25Mbps, the competition could have broad appeal for a lot of people.