5G mobile broadband
THE FIFTH GENERATION OF WIRELESS DATA IS ON THE WAY – BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?
THE WORLD IS gearing up for the next stage of the mobile internet revolution, and the ever-squabbling tech community looks like it’s reached some kind of consensus on what it’s going to look like. There’s a standard, called 5G NR, due to be used worldwide. There are devices, early examples of which have been hinted at by manufacturers like OnePlus and Honor (with bigger names sure to follow) due for release later this year. Networks have begun rolling out the hardware that those devices will connect to – and by the end of 2019, you may well find an urban centre near you offering 5G mobile internet.
MORE SPEED
What’s the big deal, though? Well, 5G is far, far faster than 4G, by orders of magnitude. It’s likely to be as fast as the fastest home Internet connections, perhaps even quicker. It can support more devices in a small area, doing away with the network congestion that makes accessing mobile Internet at, say, a concert a near impossibility. And 5G doesn’t just push more data. It reacts more quickly too, meaning it’ll enable a new range of instantly-activated smart home devices and, down the line, it’ll be the driver for tomorrow’s fleet of interconnected smart cars, delivery drones, and much more besides.
5G does have its downsides. Amongst its radio frequencies it uses what are called millimetre waves, tightly packed together to increase the amount of data they can carry – think the difference between long-waved AM radio and the shorter-waved FM radio. This means 5G is much more prone to interference, and has a functionally shorter range, perhaps as low as 250 metres from a broadcast tower and less if there’s a wall or similar in the way. This means that widespread coverage is going to take a long time to come. Network operators need to install many more masts, and the hardware to connect them, in order to blanket large areas. They are, thankfully, far smaller than the older phone masts though – that’s another benefit, but the number required means it’ll be a while before 5G reaches rural areas.