Mobile Industry Eye: EYE Views: 2019 is going to be all about 5G
By Tim Banks | Mobile Industry Eye | January 8, 2019
In the all-time classic mockumentary, Spinal Tap, there’s a line where lead guitarist, Nigel Tufnel, is showing off his custom-built amplifier, “these go up to eleven,” he says.
There are parallels with 5G mobile networks. But whilst Tufnel was happy with going ‘1’ better, 5G offers an improvement on network speeds of up to 2o times faster (4G LTE has a peak speed of 1GB per second, 5G is able to achieve speeds of 20GB per second).
3G gave us java games, ringtones and unplayable video clips, 4G gave us the mobile internet. 5G enables a new level of wireless connectivity, the IoT and faster video and gaming via things like augmented reality platforms.
Will 2019 be the year that it becomes mainstream? We asked a range of tech companies to respond.
Here’s what they said…
Colleen LeCount, SVP, Global Sales & Marketing MOBOLIZE
The hot focus is 5G and what it offers consumers, businesses and operators. Networks will continue to be built, cities and houses will get smarter, and moving data faster through the network will continue to grow.
While this is a great development for our industry, don’t forget Wi-Fi. It’s here now and will remain a significant part of the way users connect before, during and likely after 5G networks are realized. As connectivity for mobile users increasingly relies on the interplay between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, it requires a smooth, seamless bonding of the two networks to eliminate dead zones where the mobile device hangs onto weak or unresponsive Wi-Fi, resulting in no connectivity. Dead zones have long been an issue, but just now getting recognized as a problem. Operators need a solution that doesn’t require adding servers to their network – a cost, control and customer experience issue.
5G also is set to speed up the development of connected cities, homes and businesses. But similar to the mobile device, Wi-Fi can help ensure that the user experience is not impacted by areas of poor network conditions due to capacity, coverage, spectrum or any other issue that plagues mobile technologies.
And, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve still got a way to go before 5G is ubiquitous. Wi-Fi is here now and will be a strong partner with 5G. Plus, Wi-Fi will only get better with advances in Wi-Fi 6.
