November 25, 2018
The new wireless revolution, known as 5G, is right around the corner. As the world prepares for a complete overhaul of the wireless infrastructure, what will be the overall impact of 5G on businesses? Are you prepared for this transformation?
What Do Businesses Need to Know About 5G
This isn’t the first time wireless has gone through a major change, but it might just be the biggest change for businesses worldwide, yet. While 4G has played a vital role in business mobility, the impact of 5G on businesses will be unprecedented.
5G will begin to roll out over the next several years. It not only means faster networks for improved productivity, but also empowers businesses to explore new concepts and experience incredible growth opportunities. Opportunities beyond remote accessibility and mobile edge computing for off-site employees. 5G will enable organizations take advantage of IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities and provide service to more users in smaller, densely populated areas. This is particularly helpful for locations such as office buildings, city centers, stadiums and arenas.
Read: “Ready For 5G? Engineering Design Element Considerations”
What Are the Benefits and Impact of 5G on Businesses?
5G, the next (fifth) generation of cellular technology, is expected to greatly increase the speed, decrease latency and improve performance and coverage of wireless networks. Speeds are anticipated to accelerate from 10 to 100 times faster than today’s typical connection. 5G is also expected to be faster than the physical fiber-optic cable going into your office.
One key impact of 5G on businesses is its low latency. Response time is key for businesses to improve productivity, communication and ROI. Current networks take around 20 milliseconds to react. 5G latency is expected to be reduced to as little as 1 millisecond — as close to real-time as we’ve ever been.
5G Benefits in Action
- Development of more autonomous technology, such as self-driving cars
- Improved maintenance as IoT-capable items in need of repair can automatically request repair from service providers or self-repair functionality
- Increased level of a dispersed workforce, as working from home becomes infinitely more feasible
- Improved apps and experiences as cloud-based services dramatically improve on speed and capabilities increase
- Inventory tracking, trucking fleet management can all become real-time
- Security systems become more responsive
- Utility and energy management becomes more effective
- Increased capacity allows busy traffic areas or higher than average usage times to not decrease transmission speeds
- AR/VR can finally make the jump to mainstream in gaming, entertainment, tourism and other industries
- Commuting may become easier as transportation systems minimize delays and proactively prevent problems through automation
The possibilities are truly endless. And not as far away as they may seem.
Read: “5G Network Release Date Could Happen A Lot Quicker Than Expected. Are You Ready?”
When Can US Businesses Expect 5G to Rollout?
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the Commerce Department to develop a long-term comprehensive national spectrum strategy in order to prepare for the release of 5G. In order to clear space for the next-generation or faster networks, the Federal Communications Commission recently launched the agency’s first high-band 5G spectrum auction.
According to reports, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are already working to acquire 5G spectrum and are developing and testing their 5G networks. The first 5G-compatible commercial cell phones are expected to go on sale in 2019. It’s possible a wide-scale 5G roll out could be here as early as 2020.
KMB Telecom Engineering Firm
As a leading telecom engineering firm, KMB Design Group provides comprehensive turnkey telecommunications services to help businesses prepare for the impact of 5G. Our seasoned experts help your business get ahead of demands, stay in front of the competition and prepare for the transformation of 5G. No matter how large or complex your project may be, our team has the telecommunications engineering experience required to ensure a cost-effective design that meets all your deployment goals.