Just about everything you hear about 5G points out how its higher data speeds will let you download videos or update your apps much more quickly.

Well, whoop-de-do. Faster data is helpful, but a different 5G benefit could actually be a bigger deal: reducing network communication delays called latency. Latency is the time it takes to get a response to information sent -- for example, the lag between the moment you try to shoot a space invader and the moment the internet server hosting the game tells your app whether you succeeded.

Lower latency could help 5G deliver mobile networks that let us do entirely new things, not just modestly improve what we're already doing now. Possibilities include multiplayer mobile gaming, factory robots, self-driving cars and other tasks demanding quick response -- all areas where today's 4G networks struggle or can't manage at all.

"Latency is really going to open up new real-time experiences we've never had before," said AT&T Chief Technology Officer Andre Feutsch.