What will 5G bring to you and your business?

5G – what will it bring to you and your business?

Speed!

This is the obvious one. Testing is currently putting potential top 5G speeds as high as 1 Gigabit per second.^[1] For most people an increase of 10 times compared to what they are getting on 4G should be a given. ^[2]

Increased Capacity

Ever been somewhere with full signal on your mobile yet unable to load a web page or make a call? This is likely due to a capacity issue – where the masts nearby have too many devices trying to use them at once. Most frequently experienced at large events such as concerts and football games, it can cause all kinds of issues for businesses and consumers. 5G will offer better capacity in all areas that it’s available in, so your connection will not only be faster but much more reliable.

According to O2, the number of potential connected personal devices per square kilometre will increase from the current 200 to 1,000,000! ^[3]

Lower Latency

Latency refers to response time as part of a connection or information request – the lower the better. Response times becoming almost instantaneous will help to create an environment where extremely futuristic technologies such as remote robotic surgery become a practicable option.

As the largest owner of mobile spectrum in the UK, O2 are in the process of rolling out 5G across the country. Currently the service is live in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Lisburn, Liverpool, London, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Sheffield, Slough and Stoke-on-Trent.

Vodafone have 41 locations currently in the UK and 68 in the EU.

EE have 67 locations currently in UK.

Future Plans

Smart Cities

The speed, response time and reliability of 5G will allow connected devices to talk to each other at the speeds required for smart systems such as traffic management, parking and waste disposal.

Technologies that have started appearing in cities such as bins that alert the council when they are full will become more efficient with the help of 5G’s speed and latency improvements.

Connected Cars

5G capabilities will enable communication between smart cars (V2V) and between cars and the world around them (V2X).

Imagine cars being able to warn the vehicles behind of an upcoming obstruction in the road, or influencing the sequence of traffic lights based on traffic density.

How will 5G benefit your business?

Everything you do now with your mobile devices will become faster, allowing for more efficient working all-round. Remote and field workers will be able to communicate through HD video conferencing with no lagging connections, and capacity increases will ensure your employees are always connected, even in the busiest areas. Access to cloud-based storage such as Box will work seamlessly

Vehicle and asset tracking will become more reliable with more accurate real-time monitoring possible thanks to 5G’s low latency. This will also benefit lone worker tracking users, enabling you to constantly monitor the wellbeing of your staff.

Mobile broadband and 5G routers will become as fast and as reliable as home broadband – improving options for home worker connectivity (no landline needed).

For more information about how 5G will impact or improve your business communications, get in touch today and our expert Account Managers will be able to help you.