When most of us hear “5G,” we imagine blazing-fast download speeds, lag-free video calls, and apps that feel instantly responsive. But the reality on the ground often feels different. Users across India and beyond have shared frustrations such as slow or inconsistent speeds, sudden drops back to 4G, and connectivity that vanishes in certain areas even though your phone shows a 5G signal. That disconnect between expectation and experience is a common theme in online communities and news reports.
There are a few reasons behind that.
Coverage vs. Perceived Performance
5G doesn’t magically eliminate all network challenges. It still relies on physical infrastructure like towers, fibre backhaul, and spectrum allocation. In many regions, the network is still being built out, which means speeds and coverage can vary widely from street to street.
Some tech regulators have noted that average network metrics reported by operators may mask “dark spots”; local areas where users feel poor signal or slow service. That gap between reported numbers and lived reality fuels consumer complaints.
Infrastructure and Technical Hurdles
5G technology introduces new technical complexity. Things like millimeter-wave spectrum, advanced antenna systems, and novel network management features are great in theory, but they can be hard to get right at scale. Mismatches between network design and real-world conditions can cause performance inconsistencies and frustration for users.
Regulation and Enforcement Lag
In countries like India, telecom quality standards are evolving, but some core measures, like minimum throughput speeds or independent monitoring aren’t universally enforced yet. That means a user might be paying for a 5G plan but not experiencing meaningful differences from 4G.
Why Complaints Matter
These user experiences aren’t just Twitter rants or Reddit anecdotes. They matter because they signal a Quality of Experience (QoE) gap between what technology promises and what customers get. Regulators and providers alike are trying to address this, even tightening service quality norms for 5G services.
When customers feel shortchanged, they churn to competitors, demand refunds, or spread negative word-of-mouth. That isn’t good for any telecom company trying to grow in a competitive market.
Enter Telecom Expense Management (TEM)
Now here’s where things get interesting: most discussions around 5G quality focus on network tech and infrastructure. But there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s often overlooked; how telecom spending is managed inside companies that buy network services or run complex connectivity environments.
This is where telecom expense management, or TEM, steps in. It’s not a magic cure for coverage gaps, but it can help businesses and service providers make smarter decisions about how they pay for, monitor, and improve telecom services.
At its core, TEM gives a company full visibility into what they’re spending on networks, which services are over- or under-utilized, and where inefficiencies lie. That matters for a few reasons:
• Better resource allocation. Smart TEM tools help organizations understand which telecom services deliver the best performance for their money. That means they can invest in quality where it matters most and avoids paying for underperforming or unnecessary services.
• Holistic view of usage. With detailed data on voice, data, and wireless services, companies can identify patterns that help them negotiate better contracts or adjust service levels to actual usage.
• Cost savings that fuel improvements. Savings from eliminating waste or billing errors can be reinvested into network upgrades, monitoring tools, or customer-facing quality fixes.
• Performance insights. TEM solutions often combine billing, inventory, and usage analytics.
That data can feed into broader quality assurance frameworks, helping operators and enterprise network teams pinpoint where performance bottlenecks occur.
Put simply, TEM helps telecom teams stop flying blind. If an enterprise or provider can see exactly where money is going, and what that spending is buying them in terms of performance, they’re in a much stronger position to fix real quality problems rather than guess at them.
Bottom Line
5G isn’t failing, but it’s also not a plug-and-play upgrade that automatically delivers flawless service everywhere. Infrastructure gaps, evolving standards, regulatory enforcement challenges, and the technical complexity of the new generation all play a part in why many people still complain. Meanwhile, tools like telecom expense management help companies understand and control what they’re paying for and whether they’re getting the quality they expect.
Being clear-eyed about both the limitations and the potential of 5G and using the right management strategies to back it up is the best way to close the gap between hype and reality.
Also read: The Role of Telecom in Bridging the Digital Divide
