5G only has about a 500 yard range.

The two most common cell tower locations I tend to see are (a) on a mountaintop, or (b) in the middle of a wide-open field. These types of locations give you good line of effect to a wide area, but they aren't within 500 yards of where where people live, work, or travel.

I think 5G receivers need to mounted on something more like a telephone pole than a cell tower. Telephone poles tend to be close enough to the point of use to actually work. Which means your point that it may be a boon for traditional telecom companies is still true. The local phone company has much better access to telephone poles than a cell phone provider.