INSIGHTS & SPOTLIGHTS
How will 5G change the World?

As the talk around superfast “fifth generation 5G” mobile internet continues to grow, we thought it would be beneficial to run though the features and rewards in more detail. In this article, we not only look at how 5G can be helpful for society at large, but also consider how the fifth generation of cellular network technology can aid performance for small and large businesses.  

What can we expect?

It’s certainly true that 4G technology was a huge improvement on 3G, so what can we expect with 5G? Simply put 5G is believed to be smarter, faster and more efficient than 4G, whilst EE say people should expect average speeds of 100-150Mbps more than on 4G – so you can anticipate an average of around 130-240Mbps. Representing a major upscale of network technology, 5G will ultimately allow consumers to download content more quickly, at much lower latency (less delay/lag) whilst capacity will only increase as the network expands. 

It’s also important to touch on 5G density, as it’s another major advantage, especially for businesses. As an example, 5G density is said to enable up to 100 times more connected devices in the same physical area that 4G LTE operates today, whilst upholding 99.999% availability. This can therefore gift businesses enhanced communication, especially for employees who work remotely. In terms of our very own industry, incident reporting, it will be even easier to acquire actionable insight and self-report incidents from various locations. For example, security operations teams will be able to upload larger files of evidence, such as hefty videos, whilst live streaming will be more readily available, with a rapid connection that allows teams to work faster. 

When will it be rolled out?

Technically it’s available now. EE’s 5G network launched in the UK on 30th May 2019 in a handful of cities – Belfast, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham. That said, more towns and cities are likely to follow very soon but there are no definitive dates, however, we can say that during 2020 next-generation networks will have a more meaningful impact on the masses, but it could be quite a few months yet until you see the full potential of 5G. 

What other advantages will 5G bring?

There are many ways in which 5G will benefit the Internet of Things (IoT). As an example, 5G aims to deliver less than 1 millisecond latency, meaning it will help to achieve maximum responsiveness and reliability for mission-critical IoT applications, such as Zinc’s series of pioneering platforms that deliver actionable insight through incident reporting, data collation, intelligence gathering and analysis. It also helps to open doors to new opportunities, connecting to other technologies and sensors, allowing businesses to expand their operations and perform with greater efficiency. It’s also argued that 5G will allow developers to employ more edge networking and virtualised resources in their applications, whilst learning new APIs to take full take advantage of 5G connectivity.

If you’re interested in learning more about 5G and the positive impact it will have in terms of incident reporting, intelligence gathering, streamlining operations, asset tracking and threat monitoring, please contact our team today.