This year the telecoms industry will begin the transition to new fifth-generation cellular networks — known as 5G — which is expected to one day help run everything from self-driving cars to robot surgeons. The successor to the current 4G network technology introduced commercially in 2009 promises nearly instantaneous transfers of huge amounts of data that will likely bring major changes to an array of consumer and health products.
But it will take time for the network to be extensive enough to respond the high expectations it has raised.
The first advantages of 5G will be enjoyed by telecoms operators, who will be able to offer fixed high-speed internet in countries or regions where deploying fibre is expensive. At a later stage, 5G will be able to underpin services such as augmented reality, which would allow people for example to point a smartphone camera at a football game and see superimposed player statistics.
Lower latency could also help revolutionise multiplayer mobile gaming, factory robots, telemedicine and other tasks demanding a quick response — all areas where today’s 4G networks struggle or fail.
For example by using wearable technology such as augmented reality glasses in the assembly line, workers will have more information at their fingertips, potentially resulting in higher productivity.
Specialists talk of “Industry X.0”, an ongoing industrial revolution as businesses embrace and profit from constant technological change. But governments will first need to harmonise standards for the award of so-called 5G millimetre-wave spectrum, which will carry the vast data flows needed to power connected robots and other industrial uses for the technology.
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