5G Facts ICT Professionals Should Know

If you are a sales and marketing professional in the ICT industry, you are probably developing an imposter syndrome. Your customers are implementing emerging technologies and engaging you in discussions way outside your comfort zone. IoT, AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, the list goes on.

Then there is the hype around 5G. High speed, low latency 5G networks are expected to transform mobile communications as we know it.

So, how will 5G impact you and your customers?

While you may not want to position yourself as an expert, you need to hold up your end of a 5G discussion before you can gracefully hand it off to your Sales Engineer or Solution Architect who is more technical than you.

So, here are a few key 5G facts that, as an ICT sales professional, you should know.

5G basics

The “G” in 5G denotes the “Generation” of the cellular network. 5G follows the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network currently prevalent in North America and other parts of the developed world. While 5G has seen a few controlled introductions in the US, major carriers in North America and around the world have promised widespread general availability starting 2020.

5G is kind of a big deal.

According to a recent study by Ericsson, by the year 2024, 5G will attract 1.5 billion subscribers, which is nearly 40 percent of the global population.

5G could be a game changer

5G promises to deliver significantly higher bandwidth with very little latency. We are not talking small increments here. For instance, 5G download speeds are projected to be as high as 20 Gbps which is over a hundred times faster than what most subscribers have today.

If you think that you already have enough bandwidth to binge-watch Netflix shows and play online video games, it’s not entirely about you.

5G development efforts have been weighted towards machine to machine communications, and IOT generated traffic. The low latency and the improved coverage offered by 5G make it a no-brainer for Industry 4.0 applications that require reliable real-time communications. Autonomous vehicles that require sub-millisecond communication latency are good examples.

How does it impact you?

5G offers something for everyone.

From a consumer point of view, the higher bandwidth and low latency offered by 5G will make network connectivity and bandwidth issues a thing of the past.

Once 5G becomes generally available, you may no longer need to offload traffic to a Wi-Fi network for reliability and cost savings. The proponents of 5G will have you believe that the days of Wi-Fi’s dominance will come to an end in the not too distant future. A recent decision by 3GPP to include support for 5G in the unlicensed spectrum — which is used by Wi-Fi networks — appears to validate the position that 5G could displace Wi-Fi in certain situations.

5G allows you to revisit your broadband network connectivity.

With download speeds expected to surpass the standard offerings from broadband Internet providers, a potential swap out of your landline in favour of a 5G-based Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) may be something to consider. Companies that currently use LTE as back up to MPLS networks will have the option to look at 5G as their primary connectivity. SD-WAN products that offer hybrid connectivity options and path selection will become more robust with 5G.

For industries that generate Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC) and IoT traffic, 5G’s ability to scale quickly and cover geographically diverse areas will be transformative. Edge computing applications that generate and process data from smart sensors, and autonomous vehicles that require Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) stand to benefit from the responsiveness and availability of low latency 5G networks.

What makes a 5G network superior?

While the technical aspects of 5G can get confusing, it is good to have a high-level understanding of the differentiators that make 5G superior to its predecessors.

New air interface: 5G New Radio (NR) is a new air interface used within 5G cellular networks. It can deliver significantly higher throughput, increased capacity, and can be deployed in one of two modes: Non-Standalone (NSA) or Standalone (SA). The NSA model leverages components of the existing LTE control plane while the SA model uses the new architecture for both control and user functions.

Support for multiple frequencies: Radio waves in higher frequencies travel at higher speeds but can only travel shorter distances. On the other hand, the waves in the lower frequencies travel longer distances, but at lower speeds. 5G uses two ranges of frequencies that have distinctly different characteristics. Based on the throughput, capacity, and coverage requirements, 5G can be deployed to operate at lower frequencies (below 6 GHz) or at frequencies higher than 30 GHz.  

Millimetre Waves: Unlike previous generations, 5G will leverage frequencies above 30 GHz, referred to as millimeter waves. Until recently, millimeter waves had remained unused due to its distance limitations and susceptibility to interference. 5G technology uses millimeter waves to deliver higher bandwidth while avoiding traffic congestion in densely populated cities and high-traffic areas such as convention centres, sports stadiums, and shopping malls. Rural locations and users in spread out locations can be supported through lower frequency deployments of 5G.

What’s the downside?

Like any new technology, 5G will come with a few challenges. Here are some of the more obvious ones:

Infrastructure: The cost of building and maintaining a 5G infrastructure will be high. Carriers can be expected to pass it on to consumers through higher service fees.

Digital divide: 5G will likely drive digital inequality. Carriers are business driven and will focus on building new infrastructure in lucrative markets within densely populated cities. Rural areas may be left to live with the old technology unless the government intervenes through regulations.

5G enabled devices: 5G mobile devices won’t come cheap. Considering that many consumers already pay over $2000 for a high-end mobile device, I see carriers managing this through creative subscription plans and promotions.

Cross-compatibility: Interworking between carriers will need to be addressed to ensure that mobile devices work across multiple deployments of 5G that use different frequencies and bands. It is conceivable that in the short term, mobile devices may come locked to the service provider.

Security: Real-time traffic pertaining to mission-critical applications have to be extra secure and ensure that vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated as they arise. A security breach to an autonomous vehicle is not likely to end well.

There, you have the 5G facts in a nutshell. For now, let’s wait and watch to see if all the hype translates to business realities.