The mobile industry badly needs a new approach to patent licensing. This eluded it in 3G and 4G, despite high hopes, leaving a situation in which royalties account for too high a percentage of a device’s cost, and a handful of companies control the purse strings. That, in turn, raises barriers to smaller, innovative device and equipment makers, and reduces competition. Will 5G be any different? Some developments, such as open and even open source platforms for networks; a shift from hardware to software in networks; and the rising diversity of cellular-connected devices point to a more open, WiFi-like ecosystem. In particular, 5G will no longer just be about smartphones, and the tight group of vendors and chip providers in…