Connectivity of mobile devices is changing our lives. The vast number of networked devices, appliances, vehicles, software platforms, and other things, and the connectivity that permits all of these to exchange data and interact has generated a phenomenon known as the internet of things (IoT). The next evolution of this digital world is 5G, which will render an astoundingly powerful and intelligent mobile network, enabling vast numbers of new IoT uses and innovations that 4G cannot support.
What is 5G?
5G is the upcoming fifth generation of cellular mobile telecommunications, next in the succession of 2, 3 and 4G systems. 5G produces high data-rate, ultra-reduced latency, greater system capacity, lower-cost operation, energy-efficiency, and incomprehensible extent of connectivity of devices that will vastly scale up the IoT.
The new 5G is soon to yield data speeds in mobile communications with which today’s fastest home broadband network cannot compare. Speeds as fast as 100 GB per second make 5G about 1,000 times faster than the current 4G rates. The incredibly low latency is the primary difference between 4G and 5G.
When Will 5G Be Ready in US?
Mobile telecoms around the globe are planning and developing infrastructures to accommodate next-generation 5G networks. Here in the United States, mobile carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint have been testing 5G in some of the larger cities across the country. Testing has been conducted in Washington, D.C. and in various states including Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, Washington, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, and possibly others.
Dates for roll out of 5G service will vary between countries throughout the world. For example, BSNL is expected to release 5G service in India by 2020, whereas larger cities here in the U.S., like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami may have 5G service as soon as early 2019. Release dates for 5G service throughout other areas of the U.S. will likely vary from one carrier to another.
However, there has been some discussion about whether or not the U.S. government may nationalize 5G. If the federal government does decide to implement 5G as a public IT project, vs. leaving it to the independent carriers, that decision could have an extreme effect on the roll out date for 5G in this country.
How Will 5G Change Internet of Things (IoT)
The commercial business and industrial worlds, and our personal ways of living will all be transformed by 5G. Huge data pipes and extraordinarily low latency will make applications facilitated by technologies like virtual and augmented reality, AI, video streaming and other technologies incomparably more robust. Drones and cars will coordinate with each other, and with other things through phenomenally low-latency networks. Robotics and automation will, at last, become manageable over WANs. 5G will bring us into a new era of much more fully realizing the potential of the IoT and its billions of connected sensor devices.
The 5G impact will be a much more thoroughly integrated internet and telecommunications ecosystem. It will bring spectacular global development of a world far more thoroughly connected by the IoT. 5G will serve as the foundation for global economic growth, presenting untold opportunities for new revenue streams across multitudes of commercial and industrial businesses. Rapid growth and development of markets for vast varieties of new sensors, modules, and platforms for connectivity and delivery are already being realized in some economic sectors. The disruptive force of 5G is on its collective fronts of global commercial, industrial, and personal activity. Enormous investment is being made in preparation for 5G across the telecom industry and by national governments. The effort is to jolt the IoT into a level of functionality that we can currently only imagine. In the coming years, we will witness rapidly increasing progress toward the full digital transformation of commercial, industrial, academic and governmental organizations at every level and of our own way of living-all pushed into the future by the power of 5G.