We’re still in the middle of the 4G revolution in that the super fast mobile data service is still in its infancy in both coverage and speed capabilities.
With current technologies capable of offering internet speeds of up to 150Mbps in areas offering double LTE connections, and LTE-A soon to come to London, increasing that to 300Mbps, why on Earth do we need anything more?
In fact, Pocket-lint has been told that by the end of what is possible with 4G, we will be achieving mobile broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps – one gig. That’s staggering to contemplate, especially as we don’t even have fixed line broadband that fast yet. So why the need for 5G?
We attended a 5G course held by EE, the current leader in the UK’s 4G market to find out exactly that and more. And we think you might be as excited by the prospect as we now are.
What is 5G
5G is the name currently being given to the next generation of mobile data connectivity that will come after the last drop has been wringed from 4G.
It will provide unbelievably fast broadband speeds, but more importantly it will have enough capacity wherever you go to perform every function you want it to without a drop in speed or connection, no matter how many people are connected at the same time.
Indeed, EE’s principal network architect Professor Andy Sutton, believes that the aim of 5G is to become invisible. It should be a technology that’s “just there”, like electricity. It will enable device manufacturers to realise the Internet of Things as it will always be on and able to be tapped into without regionalisation.
Why do we need it
One of the main benefits of 5G technology over 4G will not be its speed of delivery – which admittedly could be between 10Gbps and 100Gbps – but the latency. At present, 4G is capable of between 40ms and 60ms, which is low-latency but not enough to provide real-time response. Multiplayer gaming, for example, requires a lower latency than that to ensure that when you hit a button, the remote server responds instantly.
Another example was given to us by EE’s Sutton, who said that 5G’s prospective ultra-low-latency could range between 1ms and 10ms. This would allow, he said, a spectator in a football stadium to watch a live stream of an alternative camera angle of the action that matches what is going on the pitch ahead with no perceivable delay.
The capacity is an important factor too. With the Internet of Things becoming more and more important over time, where gadgets and objects employ smart, connected features that they have never had before, the strain on bandwidth will continue to grow.
Initial ideas behind 5G is that an infrastructure will be in place to avoid that. It will be more adaptive to user’s needs and demands and therefore able to allocate more or less bandwidth based on the application.
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