5G Mobile Data

5G has been designed to handle more data, connect more devices, and bring new levels of reliability.

09:18 13 June 2017

5G is the fifth generation of cellular networking and is the next step in mobile technology. When compared to 4G, it is expected to handle more data, connect more devices, significantly reduce latency and bring new levels of reliability.

 

According to a recent report from the National Infrastructure Commission, "5G means seamless connectivity. Ultra-fast, ultra-reliable, ultra-high capacity transmitting at super low latency. It will support the ever larger data requirements of the existing network and new applications from augmented reality to connected vehicles and the Internet of Things, and many more, as unknowable today as the 4G services we take for granted would have been a decade ago."

 

5G, which offers an average speed of 100Mbps, could be the last step-change in mobile technology. A Qualcomm-led study predicts that 5G’s full economic benefit would be realised across the globe by 2035. It added that the technology could generate up to $3.5 trillion in revenue by 2035 and support 22 million jobs.

 

In line with such predictions, Apple’s recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed that it is testing next-generation 5G wireless technology. The application for an experimental license to use millimeter wave technology says: "Apple seeks to assess cellular link performance in direct path and multipath environments between base station transmitters and receivers using this spectrum. These assessments will provide engineering data relevant to the operation of devices on wireless carriers’ future 5G networks."