5G is less a single upgrade and more a program of readiness work across the whole network. The radio layer gets the attention, but the constraints usually show up first in transport and site power.
On transport, aggregation rings sized for 4G traffic need review well before 5G carriers go live. Fiber to the busiest sites, higher-capacity microwave on the rest, and honest capacity planning avoid a stalled rollout later.
Site power is the other quiet blocker. 5G radios and higher user throughput raise energy demand at exactly the sites where grid supply is weakest. Power audits, right-sized rectifiers and solar hybrid systems keep new capacity actually usable.
Operators that treat 5G as an end-to-end readiness effort — spectrum, transport, power and operations together — reach useful coverage faster and at lower cost.