5G is coming, and it has the potential to change the world of tech as we know it. By dramatically increasing the speed at which data is transferred, improving response times and providing enough capacity for the billions of devices that will be connected in the Internet of Things or IoT, (find out more about IoT here) 5G mobile broadband is paving the way for a new band of innovative new technologies and services. But what is 5G, and when will it happen? Here’s what you need to know.
A Speedier Connection
5G is the 5th generation of mobile networks and is tipped to be much faster than 4G, around 100x faster to be exact. Let’s put this into perspective, on 5G a full HD film will download in a matter of seconds whereas on 4G, you will need to wait a few minutes. Also peak times won’t affect the speed at all on 5G mobile broadband, as networks won’t be slowed down at high traffic times.
No More Buffering!
Response times will be significantly better, at a rate of 1 millisecond on 5G when compared to 40 milliseconds on 4G. This means that waiting for a film to download before you can play it will be a thing of the past. Thanks to 5G, you will be able to watch instantly, no more buffering!
Thanks to this reduction in latency, our experience when it comes to entertainment will receive a boost. For example, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) will enable us to have a more immersive and interactive experience, the same can also be said for multiplayer gaming. 5G will also have the ability to enhance other, more traditional pastimes, where you wouldn’t normally think this type of technology could make such an impact.
Imagine you are at a football match, and the ball and the players are at the far end of the pitch where you can’t really see what’s going on. What do you do? Wait and watch the highlights of whatever you have missed later on? Not with the power of 5G mobile broadband.
As every angle of a game is captured by cameras for live TV already, 5G and the reduced latency will allow you to live stream the game from your seat, allowing you to watch all angles of the match from your phone and not miss out.
This idea has however, received huge criticism, as many people claim we are already far too glued to our screens as it is, and football should be enjoyed for the environment and atmosphere, which could be lost to a sea of people looking at their phones or tablets. I personally think this could be beneficial for certain cases, when overall visibility is reduced dramatically or in special circumstances, but in normal everyday use, this could seem a little excessive.
Extended Bandwidth
With the world gearing up for the takeover of the Internet of Things, 5G mobile broadband will have to be powerful enough to connect the billions of devices set to go online. Not only will it have the increased number of personal mobile devices (smart phones, wearables, tablets and laptops) but also the millions of other tech set to go live in the coming years. With driverless cars, intuitive street lights and even our fridges set to go online in the near future, we need the bandwidth to run them properly, with enough speed and efficiency to ensure this next step towards the dream of a fully-connected world can be executed properly with the power such a huge tech breakthrough deserves.
When can we expect to see 5G?
The first pilots of 5G are expected to arrive in 2018 with Huawei launching their pilot network first (no official date announced yet but it is rumoured to be early in 2018) with official interoperability testing to commence early 2019 and an official commercial launch to happen early 2020. This timescale is common amongst the big developers and 2018 is set to be “the year of 5G” with Ericson and Samsung both using the Winter Olympics in South Korea and the World Cup in Russia to demonstrate its various capabilities and features.
It may seem like a little while off yet, but in terms of a new tech innovation, 5G mobile broadband is almost ready, and a new way of life is just around the corner.
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