Is 5G the future?
From Apple being granted permission to begin 5G testing in California, to Samsung’s collaboration with Verizon achieving multi-gigabit speeds in testing, 5G has gathered a lot of attention. Set to be up to 3 times faster than 4G, it really is a race between big tech companies to prepare for 5G. Mobile operator Three have invited equipment vendors and and managed service providers to pitch for part of a huge multi-billion pound network overhaul for 5G. Despite being the smallest of Britain’s four main mobile providers, Three is hoping this contract will put itself in first place in the race for 5G.
In the US, Samsung and Verizon have claimed multi-gigabit speeds during testing, where 5G networking systems have been set up in 5 cities; New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington DC, and Michigan, allowing the companies to gauge user experiences in some of the earliest 5G trials.
So what exactly is 5G?
The world is always striving to become more connected, more efficient. This has been done and is currently being achieved in part by 2G, 3G and 4G. The Fifth Generation, otherwise known as 5G, is a project by major telecommunication players to offer their customers an even faster ultra speed connection. The largest mobile operators like AT&T Samsung and Vodaphone are already involved in testing at a national level, hoping to be prepared to launch devices that can cope with 5G technology when it is ready.
To give you some perspective, a comparison of 4G and 5g is shown below.
4G
5G
Connections (per square metre)
Thousands
Up to a Million
Latency
40ms
1ms
Throughput (transmission capacity of a communication channel in bits)
Thousands
Billions
It is thought that to download a full HD movie with 5G would take a matter of seconds. So it’s no wonder we want 5G firmly in our grasp.
Who will benefit?
5G is also set to benefit innumerable industries. In the health industry, 5G could offer the option to relieve pressure on hospital resources, increase control over assets and provide technology support for mental health among much more. Chronic conditions could be monitored from home, saving hospitals resources while reassuring patients. 5G will also allow vehicles to communicate with each other through the faster speeds and lower latency almost in real time. It will also accelerate the push towards fully autonomous vehicles. Tracking your public transport wouldn’t be so bad either.
The so called ‘4th industrial revolution’ will also be aided by 5G, which could allow machine to machine communication in robotics, artificial intelligence and IoT among others. 20% of the massive predicted $1.23 trillion 5G market by 2026 will be attributed to energy utilities, demonstrating another benefiting industry. And, of course, Media and Entertainment. Who doesn’t want faster loading speeds?
IOT-Bit
IOT-Bit is working on its own project allowing 5G to be available on our devices when 5G is ready to hit the market. Get ready!
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