Apart from China and a few operators elsewhere, deployment of 5G Standalone is behind many projections made a few years ago. Yet this lag behind prior expectations is hardly surprising. The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed some 5G spectrum auctions, compounded by geopolitical factors, but these are not the primary reasons for the deficit between unfolding reality and previous hype. Many MNOs have come under increasing cost constraints, which have inevitably dampened roll-out of 5G infrastructure in general, but more particularly focused investment on aspects that deliver performance benefits most quickly. The promise of 5G SA is very much of jam tomorrow, through improved scalability, convergence of multiple cellular generations over a common core, reduced complexity, ability to differentiate services through…