The Evolution to 5G - World Change Agent - Part I

5G is about to change the world in ways we can't even imagine yet .. It will be the platform linking billions of devices together

Background

While 3G put the mobile Internet in your hand and 4G gave us mobile broadband – redefining how we interact with our world – 5G will connect everything and everyone. The technologies within 5G were and continue to be designed to vastly expand network capacity so cars, utility grids, appliances, medical devices, industrial machinery, homes, cities, farms and more can all be connected. And 5G will reduce delays and improve reliability, thereby enabling mission-critical tasks such as remote surgery, self-driving cars and enhanced public safety, to make possible secure connections so lightning-fast that an entire movie can be downloaded in seconds.

The adoption of 5G will even faster than what we saw on 4G, which was already fairly fast

What is 5G

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

5G mobile technology will, like electricity or the automobile, benefit entire economies and benefit entire societies. This is because the global 5G standard (5G New Radio) will advance mobile from largely a set of technologies connecting people-to-people and people-to-information to a unified connectivity fabric connecting people to everything.

1G to 5G Timeline

In the last four decades, mobile phones, more than any other technology, have quietly changed our lives forever.

Do you remember how much you loved your 2G Nokia 3310? 

1. 1G, the first generation of telecom networks (1979), let us talk to each other and be mobile
2. 2G digital networks (1991) let us send messages and travel (with roaming services)
3.  2.5G and 2.75G brought some improvement to data services (GPRS and EDGE)
4.  3G (1998) brought a better mobile internet experience (with limited success)
5.  3.5G brought a truly mobile internet experience, unleashing the mobile apps eco-system
6.  4G (2008) networks brought all-IP services (Voice and Data), a fast broadband internet experience, with unified networks architectures and protocols
7. 4 G LTE ( for Long Term Evolution), starting in 2009, doubled data speeds
8. 5G networks expand broadband wireless services beyond mobile internet to IoT and critical communications segments

Benefits of 5G ?

There are three main benefits of 5G that are usually cited.

1. First of all, is its speed. 5G can transfer data 10 to 20 times faster than 4G. Currently as it rolls out, download speeds vary, but the average download time for 5G equals 1GB per second. That means that a 600 MB video can be downloaded within 30 seconds, compared with more than two minutes on 4G, per Verizon data.
2. The second advantage is a lower latency. That’s the delay time between a person’s action and the result of the action — for instance, the time between clicking a “play” button and the actual start of the video clip. The delay takes 40 to 50 milliseconds in 4G devices and less than 10 milliseconds in 5G devices, Western Digital notes.
3. The third advantage is connectivity. 5G opens many new possibilities for the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) in particular, the trend to having cars, home appliances and many other “intelligent” devices connect to the internet. According to Thales Group, 5G will be able to support up to a million devices in a square kilometer (about two fifths of a square mile), meaning more data and more quality services

Why Do we need 5G ?

• Mobile data traffic is rising rapidly, mostly due to video streaming.
• With multiple devices, each user has a growing number of connections.
• Internet of Things will require networks that must handle billions more devices.
• With a growing number of mobiles and increased data traffic both mobiles and networks need to increase energy efficiency.
• Network operators are under pressure to reduce operational expenditure, as users get used to flat rate tariffs and don't wish to pay more.
• The mobile communication technology can enable new use cases (e.g. for ultra-low latency or high reliability cases) and new applications for the industry, opening up new revenue streams also for operators.

Who Started 5G ?

No one company or person owns 5G, but there are several companies within the mobile ecosystem that are contributing to bringing 5G to life. Qualcomm has played a major role in inventing the many foundational technologies that drive the industry forward and make up 5G, the next wireless standard.

 We are at the heart of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the industry organization that defines the global specifications for 3G UMTS (including HSPA), 4G LTE, and 5G technologies.

 3GPP is driving many essential inventions across all aspects of 5G design, from the air interface to the service layer. Other 3GPP 5G members range from infrastructure vendors and component/device manufacturers to mobile network operators and vertical service providers.

Impact of 5G

Through a landmark 5G Economy study, we found that 5G’s full economic effect will likely be realized across the globe by 2035—supporting a wide range of industries and potentially enabling up to $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services.

? $13.2 Trillion dollars of global economic output

? 22.3 Million new jobs created

? $2.1 Trillion dollars in GDP growth

This impact is much greater than previous network generations. The development requirements of the new 5G network are also expanding beyond the traditional mobile networking players to industries such as the automotive industry.

The study also revealed that the 5G value chain (including OEMs, operators, content creators, app developers, and consumers) could alone support up to 22.3 million jobs, or more than one job for every person in Beijing, China. And there are many emerging and new applications that will still be defined in the future. Only time will tell what the full “5G effect” on the economy is going to be.

In 2035, when 5G's full economic benefit should be realized across the globe, a broad range of industries - from retail to education, transportation to entertainment, and everything in between - could produce up to $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services enabled by 5G mobile technology.

Way Forward

The buzz about the global implementation of 5G has been going on for years now, with very high expectations and even some controversy taking place along the way. But even though full deployment takes time, it is certain that 5G will change many social and business interactions, including banking interactions. The adoption of 5G will even faster than what we saw on 4G, which was already fairly fast.

References

• https://www.etsi.org/technologies/5g
• https://www.viavisolutions.com/en-us/literature/state-5g-deployments-2020-poster-chart-en.pdf
• https://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/files/5g-vision-use-cases.pdf
• https://www.qualcomm.com/invention/5g/what-is-5g
• https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/au/en/reports/to-build-or-not-to-build.html
• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/5g-is-about-to-change-the-world-in-ways-we-cant-even-imagine-yet/