5G has entered deep waters. It has been five years since the launch of 5G in 2019. Over the past five years, the penetration rate of 5G plans has exceeded 80%, and the three major operators have amassed over 1.1 billion 5G users.

However, to this day, many people still complain about 5G, claiming that there isn't much difference between 5G phones and 4G phones, except that 5G phones are more expensive and the service charges are higher, with no other apparent 'advantages'.

This is because 5G speeds have been throttled in most areas. Theoretically, 5G can achieve 1Gbps, but in reality, it only reaches around 200Mbps.

However, even as you're still complaining about 5G, 5.5G, an even more advanced technology, is already here.

As early as 2020, Huawei proposed the concept of 5.5G, but it was too ahead of its time back then, as 3GPP hadn't even established standards for 5.5G yet.

It wasn't until April 2021 that 3GPP acknowledged the concept and technology of 5.5G, naming it 5G-Advanced and starting standardization from Rel-18, thus officially introducing 5.5G to the industry.

Since then, 5.5G technology has made rapid progress. Qualcomm launched the X75, the world's first 5.5G baseband chip, and Huawei subsequently introduced numerous 5.5G products.

Major operators have also embraced 5.5G technology, with China Mobile announcing plans to deploy 5G-A commercially in over 300 cities nationwide by the end of the year, building the world's largest 5G-A commercial network.

According to Huawei, 5.5G is ten times faster than 5G, with 5G offering 1Gbps and 5.5G capable of reaching 10Gbps. It also introduces three new application scenarios: UCBC (Uplink Ultra-Broadband Communications), RTBC (Real-Time Broadband Communications), and HCS (Haptic Communications and Sensing).

It is evident that these three scenarios are primarily targeted at the Internet of Things and industrial sectors, with limited practical changes for personal mobile phones, except for increased speed.

Therefore, theoretically, the focus of 5.5G lies in industrial users and enterprise applications.

However, recently, many consumers have discovered that some operators have already launched 5.5G user plans, starting at 199 yuan and going up to 399 yuan.

It is said that with a 5.5G plan, the maximum downlink speed can reach 3Gbps and the uplink speed can reach 200Mbps, but only in areas with 5.5G coverage. Without 5.5G coverage, users can only use 5G.

This news has unsettled many netizens, who argue that 5.5G is not intended for individual consumers. For average users, 5G speeds are more than adequate, and they cannot understand why 5.5G plans are being introduced, wondering if it's just another attempt to take advantage of customers.

Many netizens also worry that if few people subscribe to 5.5G plans, 5G speeds may once again be throttled, forcing everyone to subscribe to 5.5G plans.

To be honest, 5.5G is not primarily focused on individual consumers. While it's understandable that operators need to make a profit, they shouldn't solely target individual consumers' pockets. What do you think?