But there is that burning question of ‘what will 5G bring to the world?’ The answer – in short – is an army of mini digital revolutions that will pave the way for 6G and other innovations in the future. As such, it’s worth examining what 5G has already brought to the table, and perhaps looking to the future and see what other tech enhancements are just around the corner.
What Does 5G Bring?
The key characteristic of 5G, the fifth generation of mobile networks, is speed. Anyone that has used mobile internet for the past decade or more will have seen a clear improvement in speed from 2G up to the present day, and 5G takes that evolution to the next level. The reason 5G has been able to improve upon its predecessors is that it is able to leverage the OFDM – that’s Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing – to be more efficient, which ensures faster data speeds and much lower latency. So, businesses in a variety of sectors have already benefitted and will continue to do so as they understand the capabilities of the technology more. Leaner, faster, smarter; those have been the watchwords for 5G so far. The new network is able to get the very best performance out of our standard devices. Gamers will have noticed an improvement in their experience if they have switched to 5G, with online games now far more streamlined and less ‘laggy’ courtesy of the lower latency. Other aspects of our tech lives have enjoyed a welcome boost. Streaming video content via 5G is a much more enjoyable experience, while apps that need to deliver timely, to-the-second access have also come into their own. For example, those in trading and investing have benefitted by being able to access the markets far more quickly, meaning that they can buy/sell assets at instant market prices – crucial to not missing out on a few ticks of profit. You can check out Fusion Markets and their platform on 5G for further proof of that.
What Will 5G Bring in the Future?
In our everyday lives, being able to download movies, TV shows, and albums at one gigabit per second is a monumental improvement on what has gone before. The 5G network will enhance business capabilities and productivity in a way that will drive economic growth through more streamlined output alone. Not everybody is on board with automation and robots in the workplace, but – either way – you can rest assured that 5G will facilitate the rise of the machines. Already being rolled out in a number of production and logistics settings, it won’t be long before the bots are invaluable to the success of the medical, pharmaceutical, and automotive sectors. One of the most eagerly anticipated areas of development is digital therapeutics. Don’t worry, you won’t have a robot administering your vaccinations or writing your prescriptions, but bots are expected to help assist surgeons to deliver precise keyhole surgeries. AR and VR could also be used to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients unable to leave their homes – all powered by the 5G network. The uses of 5G in so many different capacities is extraordinary, and we may also feel the benefits in our local towns and cities as networks get smarter and enable the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve the way we live our lives.
What is Expected from 6G?
It’s human nature that after we have received something shiny and new, we’re already looking for the next big thing to titillate us – let’s call it Christmas Day morning syndrome. With every new generation of mobile networks, technology comes improvement – faster, more powerful, and with wide-ranging capabilities. At this early stage, we expect that trend to continue. Of course, the technology is still very much in the research and development phase, and so there will be no certainties as to what 6G will be able to do and when it will be rolled out. But as we know, technology is getting smarter and more secure – and those are the two aspects we expect 6G to focus on, as well as enhancements in speed and delivery of data. At the moment, some are predicting that 6G won’t even emerge until the end of the decade, and by then so much is likely to have changed from a tech standpoint. Either way, 6G will be super-exciting as 5G is already.
