9 Billion 5G Connections By 2030 Signal More Than Mere Progress

The projections of nearly 9 billion 5G connections by 2030, capturing 60% of all wireless traffic, isn’t a milestone; it’s a dependency trap dressed up as innovation. We’re witnessing the construction of a technological bottleneck so pervasive that opting out of it becomes economically suicidal. 

North America’s 88% population coverage 111GB monthly data consumption reveals the playbook, saturating the market until alternatives become unthinkable and then monetizing the dependency. 

The faster speed and higher bills should be the least of your fears in this scenario; it should be that such an infrastructure takeover would leave no room for choice and only demand compliance. 

The Winners of Connectivity

The projection signals a future of connectivity, but it’s not a dreamy tech utopia; it’s a transfer of wealth. Companies like Nokia, Ericson, and Samsung will keep cashing in by selling the “picks and shovels” of the 5G and IOT boom. 

But the real jackpot goes to hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud that are set to host the 9 billion 5G connections projected by 2030. The more everything connects, the fewer exists remain, and the more concentrated the profit is. 

Connection To Control Systems

The jump from 3.8 billion to 5 billion IOT Connections isn’t just about smarter factories or faster healthcare; it appears as one of the most surveillance systems ever developed.  Terms like “smart grids” and “telemedicine” sound harmless, but what they really deliver is a granular behavioral dataset that makes Facebook ad targeting look outdated. 

And it is hard to miss the stake for telecom giants like Verizon, AT&T, China Mobile, shifting from service providers to infrastructure landlords, extracting rent from every connected device we depend on. It’s safe to say that in every such progress, industrial surveillance is being sold as innovation. 

The Geographical Play

North America’s 111G monthly data consumption per user is more than twice the other regions. It seems like a deliberate play for infrastructure dominance. By making extreme bandwidth the norm, the Western tech ecosystem sets the standard, ensuring global reliance on its proprietary technology. 

Huawei and ZTE, once poised to compete in the region, were sidelined under the accusation of “security concerns”. This is more about digital imperialism than faster connections. 5G isn’t expanding into a unified global network, it’s splintering into the regions where technology can be used as a geopolitical weapon. 

The 5G rollout is no different than any other wave of infrastructure that came out promising innovation but turned into monopolized checkpoints for profits. Those projected 5 billion IOT devices aren’t conveniences, they’re sensors in a planetary-scale monitoring system. 

By the time we hit those 9 billion connections, the debate won’t be about innovation, but about the amount of rent we’re willing to pay to exist in a networked world that is already owned by big tech.