It’s hard to escape the hype around 5G, the emerging new generation of cellular connectivity. The iPhone 12 line, Apple’s first range of 5G-enabled smartphones, has proved a huge commercial hit, as The Verge reports – and 5G has been dubbed “probably the most transformational network since the internet developed”.
Those words are quoted from a Compare the Cloud article also proposing that 5G “will advance mobile from a technology that connects people-to-people and people-to-information, to a central and unified process that connects everything to everything (X2X).”
However, if we cut through a lot of the jargon, what exactly could 5G mean for business in practical terms? Ultimately, it looks like how much your company gets out of 5G will depend heavily on how it adopts and uses this particular mobile connectivity standard.
How fast is 5G – and what could this mean for businesses?
It has been said that 5G will be as much as 30 times faster than existing network infrastructure – and, for this reason, will be able to facilitate two-way data transfer that seems instantaneous. This will pave the way for businesses to manage assets, resources and services more efficiently.
To discern one good example of how this could work in practice, we should look to the logistics industry. Through using 5G in tandem with the IoT (Internet of Things), logistics firms could streamline manufacturing and delivery and track in real time, removing any necessity of scan-points.
What could impede the 5G rollout?
While a world where 5G is as widespread as its predecessor – 4G – currently is seems within grasp, there are also numerous challenges to heed. Cellular coverage tends to be spottier in rural areas, and there is the risk that 5G will prove no exception to this rule – at least initially.
As a result, the 5G rollout could turn out to be much more cumbersome than what you probably recall occurring with the transition to 4G. Therefore, your business might need to fall back on 4G for some time to come yet – and, when 5G does reach your area, you should carefully consider how your business ought to use the technology.
How should your business prepare to take up 5G?
You don’t necessarily have to wait until 5G arrives before you can start implementing telecoms solutions capable of transforming your business for the better. Your existing telecoms could have blind spots that would be effectively covered by technology and services already on the market.
If many members of your team often leave the office to embark on business trips, too many of those workers could be relying on mobile connectivity originally built for the consumer market. So, you could give these workers access to a more business-focused solution such as Gamma Mobile, allowing for easier access to reliable data services.
Gamma is also on the verge of rolling out its 5G services, making it one example of a company to which you could beneficially turn in order to transition your own business smoothly to regular use of 5G connectivity.
