Pic Courtesy - Unsplash
Recently India has launched 5G services. Following this 5G is in news throughout. 5G networks are all over the news these days. While the term is used frequently enough for many business owners to be familiar with it, not everyone understands what 5G is, what its key benefits are, and how it can improve business.
What is 5G ?
The fifth-generation technology of public wireless networks is known as 5G. While the naming convention
suggests an incremental evolution from 4G, 5G is a giant leap forward. The development of 5G technology began in 2008, with the goal of making better use of the radio spectrum and allowing many devices to be connected at the same time. It employs higher frequency and shorter wavelength waves than previous generations. Because 5G is much better at handling thousands of devices at once, a single network can handle mobile phones and equipment sensors, among many other types of hardware, without slowing down.
The higher-frequency radio bands used by 5G have significantly more capacity than their predecessors. Many
countries have started the 5G rollout, with China and the United States leading the way with a total of 652 cities where 5G is available. The Philippines has been able to establish active connections in 98 cities, putting it in the lead in terms of rollout schedule.
Impact On Business
Business world is an expected to get benefitted from this. With every upgradation of technology, benefits loom for business. Similarly, onset of 5G too has opened avenues of new opportunities for the business world.
Some of those I am mentioning here
1. Lower latency: Latency refers to response time, which is the time it takes for something to be sent and received. 4G latency is currently around 50 milliseconds. 5G is expected to reduce latency to one millisecond, or one thousandth of a second – 400 times faster than the blink of an eye. Low latency is critical for any application that requires a true real-time response, such as self-driving cars and remotely controlled robotic work such as robotic surgery. It also means that there will be more opportunities to use augmented and virtual reality.
2. Thumbs up to connectivity: Increasing network capacity increases the number of devices that can communicate with one another. Although the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more popular, most communication today is done through smart phones. With 5G, we’ll see a dramatic increase in the number of devices and machines communicating with one another. Experts predict that 5G will be able to connect 500 times more connected devices than 4G. Smart cities of the future are expected to have millions of sensors per square kilometre, all connected to 5G networks and able to support IoT devices. Apart from this, such connectivity will aid governments in managing natural disasters to save lives and infrastructure, as well as help emergency responders arrive faster by rerouting traffic.
3. Bandwidth & Bottlenecks management : Increased bandwidth in 5G will enable very fast download speeds, improving applications and reducing bottlenecks. The transition from 4G to 5G will be drastic. Increased bandwidth allows massive video files or presentations to be shared in seconds, making remote workers more agile when downloading files on the fly. Similarly, remote workers can participate in HD video communications from any location.
4. A Boost to mission critical applications: With passage of time mission critical applications are on rise. These are applications or work which are very critical and even minor mistake can cause havoc. Some examples are robotic surgery, self-driving cars etc. 5D is a perfect fit for such types of applications. These are the perfect examples where, one need high reliability and low latency network. Such applications will be enabled by ultra-reliable low-latency communications. In these cases, even a millisecond of delay can be disastrous.
5. New avenues for AI & automation: As businesses modernise and prepare for the future, the lower latency and faster speeds of 5G will be difficult to ignore—especially when combined with automation. Ultra-reliable low-latency network will have a boost on AI too. Many applications which run on AI will have increased efficiency, in turn providing a great user experience. An efficient and improved automation will make process increasingly productive. This will even lead to agility with more work done at lesser unit of time. This will lead to reduced human efforts, saving precious man-hours.
6. A headstart for immersive experience : T-Mobile and Qualcomm recently announced a collaboration to develop augmented reality applications for smart glasses. This could be similar to the Niantic Planet-Scale AR Alliance powered by 5G. Using T-5G Mobile’s network, the new participants will collaborate with other developers and entrepreneurs to create immersive AR experiences for smart glasses. T-new Mobile’s 5G network ushers in a new era of mobile computing with gigabit speeds and next-generation technology. This could lead to use of the Snapdragon Spaces XR developer platform to create augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, and other immersive experiences that turn smartphones into powerful pocket computers.
7. Smart production units: 5G technology is being used by Ford and Mercedes-Benz to build smarter factories. Intelligent technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) are used to power smart factories by companies such as Ford and Mercedes-Benz, as well as John Deere. They are now investigating how 5G can spur further innovation in their facilities. 5G networks, which are gaining traction around the world as regulators allocate more spectrum to enterprises, play an important role in these factories. This will be a game changer for businesses, particularly those that manufacture goods and require 5G capabilities to implement the transformative applications required in smart factories, digital transformation initiatives, and IoT implementations.
8. Quality & Logistics: Ice Mobility is collaborating with Microsoft and Verizon to test their in-house wireless platform and improve their quality control processes. With this collaboration, the company implemented a new computer vision-based quality control system. The high-definition cameras above each of their pick lines allow them to see what is happening on the line, allowing them to keep better inventory track. This is possible by collecting real-time data on product packing errors using 5G and a Multi-Access Edge Computing solution. Ice Mobility claims that incorporating 5G technology into their processes has saved them 15- 30% of time when performing these recurring tasks in order to grow their business.
9. Powerful Service Bots : Service bots are of immense importance in today’s world. These provide 24X 7 quick and automated service without or little human intervention. With new technology and improved AI service bots will perform better and improved jobs. Till now mostly such bots are used for passing information, however soon such bots will be able to perform critical and error-free tasks.
10. A headstart for Metaverse : In recent years, there has been a greater convergence of technological maturity and societal readiness to accept digital alternatives. Furthermore, as 5G networks improve in speed and capability, there is a growing market for immersive digital experiences—for both consumers and businesses. With the rise of the metaverse, businesses will investigate new ways to provide immersive experiences to their customers and employees. 5G will provide the backbone for this, as well as an excellent customer experience by connecting customers to businesses in both the digital and physical worlds, including ultra-fast connectivity. To succeed in the metaverse, businesses must provide their customers with incredible game-changing experiences delivered at lightning speeds over low-latency connections. In these applications, lags and disconnects will be unacceptable.
Overall 5G will act as a big boost for business with new and advanced technologies.
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