Here at TruConnect we consider it part of our mission to inform our customers about the wireless technology that is such a vital part of their lives and communication needs. It can be hard to keep up sometimes with all the tech jargon we come across. There are a variety of technological terms thrown around the telecom world these days that the average consumer has a glancing at best understanding of. How is 4G different than 3G, for example. 4G is faster, right? Well generally yes, but the 4G network of one carrier is not always faster than the 3G network of another. Backing up, the G is short for “generation”, with 4G networks introducing peak data rates of at least 100 megabits per second for users on the go (in cars, trains etc) and at least 1 gigabit per second for low mobility users (stationary or walking), compared to the relatively sloth-like 200 kilobits per second peak data transfer rates 3G brought to the world.
So what is 5G?
Just as we start to wrap our head around this terminology, we are seeing new headlines about the coming 5G technology. What does this mean and how will it affect me? In May 2013, Samsung announced they had successfully developed technology that will power the 5th generation of mobile communications. This new technology will provide data transmission up to several hundred times faster than current 4G networks, they say. Nokia claims it has already tested a 5G connection with download speeds of 30 gigabits per second, which is 1,000 times more powerful than an average 4G connection. The real world likely won’t offer such speeds due to inconveniences like trees, buildings, and distant cell phone towers, but the industry is forecasting speeds at least 10 to 100 times faster than 4G.
5G is coming
Despite this promise, it has yet to be determined what 5G will actually be defined as in terms of capacity and performance. Bill Smith, President of AT&T’s Network Operations, says that 5G will likely be defined in 2018, and the standards for 5G will be codified in 2019 by the standards-setting International Telecommunication Union, which is part of the United Nations. The standard will define which wireless technologies can be called 5G and such qualities as how fast it will be. Per CNN, each of the four nationwide cell phone carriers, as well as smartphone chipmakers and the major network equipment companies are working on developing 5G technology for their customers.
Who’s rolling it out first?
This seems to be setting up some of the major players for a little competition as well. AT&T only recently revealed its 5G plans, saying they aim to field test its 5G network in Austin, TX before the end of this year. Verizon jumped the gun last year with its announcement that they plan to start rolling out 5G by 2017, years earlier than industry experts predicted. AT&T claims that this is premature as the standards for what constitutes 5G won’t even be set until 2018. This hasn’t stopped them from announcing that they are working with Ericsson and Intel and will begin testing 5G in a lab this spring before outdoor testing begins later this year.
What will 5G offer me?
The true benefits of 5G won’t really start happening until around 2020 for most of us, according to guests on the CTIA wireless association panel. In addition to faster speeds for basics like texting, internet access, and video, it is expected that 5G will support next generation technologies like Ultra HD and 3D video, virtual reality, self-driving cars, robotics, as well as the coming wave of smart home devices and even smart cities. Sports fans could get real time feeds of games or concerts and even switch camera angles or get instant replay. Self-driving cars will need to communicate with the cloud to receive instructions with near zero lag, and 5G will go a long way towards supporting this. 5G will enable virtual reality users to collaborate with one another as if they are in the same physical location with no distortion. The future of medicine may change as surgical procedures are performed by wirelessly controlled robots, powered by 5G of course.
When it comes to 5G, it seems the sky’s the limit. The good news for smartphone customers is that although existing smartphones won’t support newer standards, new smartphones are almost always backwards compatible so your new 5G phone of the future will still work on those old fashioned 4G networks you might be unfortunate enough to stumble across 5 years from now. TruConnect looks forward to providing you with the best affordable 5G phones when they hit the market!