Want to know more about 5G technology? Then you're in the right place.
In this Q&A page, you'll discover key facts about 5G:
- What is 5G?
- How fast is 5G?
- What is the difference between 4G and 5G?
- What are the 5G use cases?
- When is 5G coming in PAKISTAN INDIA & CHINA
Let's see how 5G technology is about to change the world.
What is 5G?
5G technology is a breakthrough.
The next-generation of telecom networks (fifth generation or 5G) have started hitting the market end of 2018 and will continue to expand worldwide.
Beyond speed improvement, 5G is expected to unleash a massive IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem where networks can serve communication needs for billions of connected devices, with the right trade-offs between speed, latency, and cost.
5G technology is driven by 8 specification requirements:
- Up to 10Gbps data rate - > 10 to 100x improvement over 4G and 4.5G networks
- 1-millisecond latency
- 1000x bandwidth per unit area
- Up to 100x number of connected devices per unit area (compared with 4G LTE)
- 99.999% availability
- 100% coverage
- 90% reduction in network energy usage
- Up to 10-year battery life for low power IoT device
How fast is 5G?
5G tops out at 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). 5G is 10 to x100 faster than what you can get with 4G.
What makes 5G faster? Good question!
The use of shorter frequencies (millimeter waves between 30GHz and 300GHz) for 5G networks is the reason why 5G can be faster.
According to communication principles, the shorter the frequency, the larger the bandwidth.
But here is the part where you understand 5G is a lot more than that.
What is 5G low latency?
5G technology offers an extremely low latency rate, the delay between the sending and receiving of information. From 200 milliseconds for 4G, we go down to 1 millisecond (1ms) with 5G.
Just think about it.
A millisecond is 1/1000 of a second.
The average reaction time for humans to a visual stimulus is 250 ms or 1/4 of a second. People are capped at around 190-200 ms with good training.
Imagine now that your car could react 250 times faster than you. Imagine it could react also to hundreds of incoming information and can also communicate its reactions back to other vehicles and road signals all within milliseconds.
At 60 mph (100km/h) the reaction distance is about 33 yards (30 meters) before you pull on the brakes. With a 1ms reaction time, the car would only have rolled a bit more than one inch (less than 3 centimeters).
Use cases associated with low latency are:
- V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication: V2V: (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), autonomous connected cars
- Immersive Virtual Reality Gaming (5G will bring VR to the masses)
- Remote surgical operations (aka telesurgery)
- Simultaneous translating
So, let' s see what makes 5G so different from 4G.
5G vs 4G - What is the difference?
The 5th generation of wireless networks addresses the evolution beyond mobile internet to massive IoT (Internet of Things) from 2019/2020 onwards.
The main evolution compared with today’s 4G and 4.5G (LTE advanced) is that, beyond data speed improvements, new IoT and critical communication use cases will require a new level of improved performance.
- For example, low latency is what provides real-time interactivity for services using the cloud: this is key to the success of self-driving cars for example.
- 5G vs 4G also means at least x100 devices connected. 5G must be able to support 1 million devices for 0.386 square miles or 1 Km2.
- Also, low power consumption is what will allow connected objects to operate for months or years without the need for human assistance.
Unlike current IoT services that make performance trade-offs to get the best from current wireless technologies (3G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc…), 5G networks will be designed to bring the level of performance needed for massive IoT.
It will enable a perceived fully ubiquitous connected world.
In short, that’s what makes it transformational.
5G and the previous mobile generations at a glance
In the last four decades mobile phones, more than any other technology, have quietly changed our lives forever.
Do you remember how much you loved your 2G Nokia 3310?
- 1G, the first generation of telecom networks (1979), let us talk to each other and be mobile
- 2G digital networks (1991) let us send messages and travel (with roaming services)
- 2.5G and 2.75G brought some improvement to data services (GPRS and EDGE)
- 3G (1998) brought a better mobile internet experience (with limited success)
- 3.5G brought a true mobile internet experience, unleashing the mobile apps eco-system
- 4G (2008) networks brought all-IP services (Voice and Data), a fast broadband internet experience, with unified networks architectures and protocols
- 4 G LTE, starting in 2009, doubled data speeds
- 5G networks expand broadband wireless services beyond mobile internet to IoT and critical communications segments
Virtual networks (5G slicing) tailored to each use case
5G will be able to support all communication needs from low power Local Area Network (LAN) – like home networks for example, to Wide Area Networks (WAN), with the right latency/speed settings.
The way this need is addressed today is by aggregating a broad variety of communication networks (WiFi, Z-Wave, LoRa, 3G, 4G, etc…)
And 5G is smarter.
5G is designed to allow simple virtual network configurations to better align network costs with applications needs.
This new approach will allow 5G Mobile Network operators to catch a larger piece of the IoT market pie by being able to deliver cost-effective solutions for low broadband, low power applications.
What are the real 5G use cases?
Each new generation wireless network came with all new set of new usages.
The next coming 5G will make no exception and will be focused on IoT and critical communications applications.
In terms of the agenda, we can mention the following uses cases over time:
- Fixed wireless access (from 2018-2019 onwards)
- Enhanced mobile broadband with 4G fall-back (from 2019-2020-2021)
- Massive M2M / IoT (from 2021-2022)
- Ultra low-latency IoT critical communications (from 2024-2025)
Some key applications like self-driving cars require very aggressive latency (fast response time) while they do not require fast data rates.
Conversely, enterprise cloud base services with massive data analysis will require speed improvements more than latency improvements.
When is 5G coming?
Where is 5G technology in terms of roll-out, standardization and how long will this take?
- ITU-R launched “IMT for 2020 and beyond” in 2012, setting the stage for 5G.
- Japan and Korea started to work on 5G requirements in 2013.
- NTT Docomo did the first 5G experimental trials in 2014.
- Samsung, Huawei, and Ericsson started prototype development in 2013.
- South Korean SK Telecom demoed 5G in 2018 at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
- Ericsson and TeliaSonera made commercial services available in Stockholm and Tallinn in 2018.
- North America 5G is available in some locations in 2019. It won't take off in most areas until 2020.
- Deutsche Telekom started 5G in Berlin, Darmstadt, Munich, Bonn, and Cologne in Sept 2019.
- In the UK, many cities will see 5G in 2019 and more in 2020. EE, Vodaphone, and O2 are actively deploying 5G since mid-2019.
- India is targeting 2020 for 5G roll-out
- Japan's target is to launch 5G for the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics.
- China Unicom has set up 5G in a few locations in 2019. 460 million 5G connections are expected by GMSA in China by 2025.
Pakistan successfully tests 5G, launch date announced
The Pakistani telecom regulator is expected to issue 5G licences by
year-end.
Pakistan has successfully tested 5G network in the country, and the service is expected to be
available by early next year.
CMPak Limited, popularly known as
Zong, is a Pakistani mobile data network operator owned
by China Mobile. It conducted
5G tests in the presence of senior government officials and
telecom executives in Islamabad
"
Zong has become the first operator in Pakistan to successfully conduct 5G trial and this is yet
another milestone for the company" Wang Hua, chairman and CEO of
Zong, said at the event.
Zong, a pioneer of 4G-service in
Pakistan, is among top three telecom service providers with 34.71 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of June. It has established
Pakistan's largest network with more than 13 million
4G customers and
12,000 4G sites.
In July,
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority PTA issued the advertisement for
5G wireless networks trials. The telecom regulator is expected to issue
5G licences by year-end that will pave the way to launch 5th generation service of mobile cellular communications in the country, which has a subscriber base of more than 161 million as of June 2019.
According to industry sources,
5G service in Pakistan will be 100 times faster than the current levels while network will be 10 times faster than existing broadband connections available in the country.
5G home routers speed has been recorded at
4 gigabytes per second, which means that it can download a
50gb file in just two minutes.
5G is expected to revolutionise key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and education in
Pakistan.
It will have a significant impact on
Pakistan's economic transformation, social progress and create new avenues of entertainment