About 30 years ago, we saw the 1G cellular network that was the first of its kind. At that time, it was a revolution as it allowed multiple manufacturers to start working on mobile phones and soon after that, there was a boom in the mobile manufacturing and everyone would seem to have a mobile with them. Then the world saw 2G, 3G and soon after that, there were 4G and 4G LTE technologies. With each generation of the cellular technology, we saw something better and more efficient. Especially when 4G LTE was here, it was like having a completely new technology of connectivity that allowed us to instantly connect to internet and download large data files within minutes.
Following the same pattern, the world is about to unleash the 5G technology which will replace the existing 4G and 4G LTE technologies within next few years. This technology is built on a completely new infrastructure and when we dive into the technical terms, it’s almost different from 4G LTE. With this technology, not only that you can download large data files within few seconds i.e. 100GB per second download speed but the connectivity itself will be instant without any delays. Talking about the basic benefits that 5G technology will provide, there will be almost no lag in transferring data from one device to another or you can say that it will have almost zero latency.
Realities of 5G Technology:
You need a new Smart Phone:
Although the researchers are saying we don’t need a 5G smart phone to experience the full capacity of 5G technology and to some extent, it’s true.
Before 5G, the other technologies i.e. 2G, 3G and 4G were built to replace the older technology i.e. 3G replaced 2G and 4G replaced 3G. This is not the case for 5G technology. This technology is being built on top of the existing 4G and 4G LTE technology which means there is a huge difference in between the previous technologies and 5G so the smart phone should be equipped with the hardware to handle it. In theory, you don’t need a new mobile to connect to 5G but a 4G mobile can also experience speed boost when it’s connected to 5G networks. What most people don’t know is that if you want to have the full experience of what 5G can do, maybe you should think of getting a 5G equipped smart phone. There are some very good smart phone models from Samsung and Huawei that have 5G connectivity option.
5G Technology is a must have for Future:
In order to keep up with the rapid growth of technology, you must have the capability of adopting it. Think of it as how backward it sounds if someone in 2020 still has an old Motorola mobile phone that can’t fit in your pocket and it can only send and receive phone calls. If you want to keep up with the world moving forward, you need to understand that 5G is the answer. The fact that it has almost 100 times higher speed and connectivity than 4G LTE is an amazing fact. In 2018, 5G was launched in South Korea, 2019 saw multiple carriers offering 5G in China and as of 2020, there are more than 25 cities in Germany that have 5G connectivity. There is no way around it and if you want to succeed in development and technologies, you need to have 5G.
5G is not only for the Smart Phones:
There is a very common misconception that when 5G is offered, it will be only for the smart phones. In reality, this technology is for any gadget or piece of equipment that can somehow connect to internet or data carrier. If your internet provider has 5G, your computer or home Wi-Fi will have much faster download and upload speed or the navigation in your car will be able to reroute to a new destination before you can blink because the satellite and GPS will have 5G connectivity. Your office server will be able to download thousands of emails per second or even more than that and the employees won’t need to wait for a minute to download or send an email with file attachment.
It will take time to come to your Town:
The fact that 5G is so faster that it can download huge files within fraction of a second sounds pretty amazing but the not-so amazing part is that it will take time to be offered around the globe. This technology is not so easy to implement and on top of that, it has to be built with its own set of infrastructure i.e. antennas, signal deploy devices, signal towers etc. You can say that if your city decides to have 5G, it will cost more than 2$ billion which is not easy for underdeveloped countries. You will still be able to use the 5G when you go to a big city i.e. London, Moscow or New York but it will take at least 5 years to reach small cities and towns around the globe.
Common Myths about 5G Technologies:
5G Waves might be Harmful for Humans:
Whenever there is some kind of new technology that we haven’t experienced yet, there are fears about it. Mostly people think of various health aspects and they try to connect the technology to some kind of risks that it can put the humans at. When the mobile was introduced in the market, it was a common believe that if you keep mobile with you, it can cause cancer.
We all know now that it was hoax and there is no reality to it. Similarly, when people talk about 5G, they are scared of the high frequency microwaves. In order to check the reality, an experiment was conducted with brain cells and higher frequency microwaves and the data showed that the brain cell did absorb extensive amount of microwaves. This might be true for a naked cell but keep in mind that our skin is capable of blocking harmful rays and waves and 5G won’t necessarily harm human cells.
5G will Interfere with Satellite Signals:
A common person who has a marketing job or works in a corporate office doesn’t know much about 5G technology or how the navigation and weather predictions work but for a scientist, it’s very clear. When you board a flight, the pilot instructs you to switch off your cell phone during takeoff and landing because the radio waves from your smart phone can intercept or interrupt communication between airplane and control tower. In the same way people also believe that the 5G waves will somehow interfere with the satellite communication and we won’t be able to use navigation or predict weather correctly. The reality is that 5G is only offered in a handle full of cities and it will take years to spread to every corner of the world and the cities where it’s offered currently, there are no problems with satellite communication and weather is still predicted correctly and navigation still works fine.
A 5G Smart Phone can have 5G Technology:
Well it works similar to having a smart phone and SIM card. Without the SIM car, the mobile is useless and without the mobile, there is nothing you can do with a SIM card. Similarly, if your phone has 5G connectivity, it has to be in the area where 5G is offered and if you are in a city where 5G is offered, your mobile phone should have 5G connectivity. There is a common misconception that when you have a 5G smart phone, you will be able to get higher speed and faster download using 4G carrier but that’s not true at all.
5G is only about the amount of Data Transfer:
The people who understand 5G technology know that this will have higher amount of data transfer capabilities and they are right. There is no myth or misconception that 5G will have so much better connectivity and higher speed of download and upload but it’s not just limited to that. This technology will also have enormous effects on how quick the data signals are transferred to various devices. These days, the biggest challenge in robot surgery is that the robots can’t be as quick as an actual human because the commands given to the robots will take time i.e. a few seconds. With the 5G technology, the data will be transferred almost instantly so the minute you give the command, before your finger can move to the next button, the robot will execute it.
