How Will 5G Benefit Businesses?

Whilst some are yet to reap the benefits of 4G technology, which remains unavailable in some parts of the UK, others are looking ahead to the next generation of mobile networks. 5G technology is planned to go live in 2020 and promises great things, including wider availability and faster speeds than the current 4G technology. In this article, we consider the benefits that 5G could bring to businesses.

5G will build on existing technologies and use many of the frequencies already used by the current 4G technology. However, the aim is to find ways to make these faster and also incorporate new radio access technologies that are, as yet, undefined. One of the suggested ways in which 5G could improve the speeds of frequencies currently used by 4G is by combining them through multiple input multiple output (MIMO) configurations, as this would allow devices to receive multiple signals at once. It is also expected that, amongst the new technologies used, the backbone of the 5G network will formed by millimetre-wave frequencies as these are far higher than those used for 4G. However, this could have drawbacks as higher frequencies don’t travel as far and struggle to pass through buildings. This is something that researchers are currently trying to overcome, and with good reason. Because these frequencies are barely used at the moment, there will be much greater availability for 5G and this could enable far greater speeds, with many more devices connected at once.

It is estimated that 5G could be up to one-thousand times faster than the current 4G technology. Peak data speeds could potentially exceed 10Gbps, which would not only make 5G much faster than 4G but also much faster than the highest speed broadband connections available today. This would mean that 1GB films could be downloaded in less than a second and 8K videos could be streamed on mobiles in 3D. In terms of business, much faster speeds translate into far greater efficiency and productivity. In modern business, finding ways of doing more in less time and with fewer resources is essential for success. 5G could potentially make businesses much more efficient and, in turn, this will bring cost-savings and increased revenue.

Many have high hopes for a whole world of new technologies as a result of 5G. It is often closely linked to the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, remote surgeries and self-driving cars. With these kinds of technologies, sudden data drops could potentially be deadly and so lower latencies are essential to the success of 5G. With lower latencies, we will all benefit from more reliable connections and faster data transfer speeds. This is great news for businesses, for which reliable connectivity is essential for business continuity. It also means that businesses will able to become more mobile, without compromising the service they are able to offer their customers. Not only is flexible working a plus for businesses, it is also great for the workforce.

The fact that 5G coverage is expected to be more widespread than 4G, or even the previous 3G technology, means that users anywhere and everywhere will be able to access superfast mobile data. This is great for companies, and those that are yet to reap the benefits of business mobiles will finally be able to compete on a level playing field. In addition, it is expected that 5G will be more power efficient than 4G or 3G, which means that devices could last longer between charges. This is an important benefit from a business perspective, as productivity amongst mobile workers often depends on devices being operational for a certain length of time.

So, with all these benefits are there any downsides? Well, maybe. With all the potential possibilities of 5G, it is likely that data demands will increase significantly. Mobile data is chargeable, of course, so this could lead to increased costs. Having said this, end user costs will need to be reduced in order to support mainstream accessibility of the technology and this is something that is likely to be taken on board by those involved in developing the technology.