In the latst post about Telecommunications, we talked about the new version 6.7 of ESXi vSphere. Did you like the post? Today we are going to look a little towards the future, to know the news that 5G will bring us and its improvements respect the current 4G. Let's go there!
For a long time, we’ve been hearing rumors and news about 5G. That’s because of the technological innovations that will come along with it as well as the possibilities that it will add to IoT. After several years full of constant changes in its launch, 5G has finally begun to be implemented and in Spain we will have access to it shortly. Some of the big cell phone manufacturers (Huawei, Xiaomi or Samsung) are already launching the first compatible products with this technology.
According to the technical specifications, this new internet protocol will increase connection speed, decrease latency and increase the number of connected devices.
But first, let's see exactly what 5G is and the novelties and improvements that it will bring us in our day to day.
What is 5g?
5G is basically the fifth-generation standard of wireless communication. Therefore, 5G is not anything new, it’s still an evolution of the current 4G that once replaced 3G.
It's a similar case as to what happens with Wi-Fi protocols where we go from 802.11a, b, g etc....
Mobile wireless technology began in the 90s with 1G, which only allowed calls to be made. Then it went to 2G which enabled the sending of SMS messages. 3G allowed us to surf the Internet in addition to the functions already provided by the previous protocol versions. With 4G, the speed (broadband) by which we could perform these actions was increased, even allowing for simultaneous implementation.
The fifth generation (5G) will try to get our cell phones to play digital content in seconds, almost instantly. The standard, which has already been approved, promises to be between 10 and 20 times faster than current connections.
Why is 5G necessary?
Today we have a large number of devices that connect to our networks at the same time. This requires a fast and stable network. The new 5G standard has been created to prevent saturating the current bandwidth. Speed, reduced latency and increased connectivity are the main novelties and improvements of 5G.
What are the differences between it and 4G?
As we’ve said, there are two main differences between 4 and 5: Speed and latency.
Let's see in a table, the theoretical data of the different standards in terms of latency and speed.
|
|
4G |
4G or LTE |
5G |
|
Speed |
200 Mbps |
1,200 Mbps |
10,000 Mbps |
|
Latency |
100 milliseconds |
20 milliseconds |
1-2 milliseconds |
As we can see, we can download content with hardly any waiting time, but what really stands out is the reduced latency. By latency, we mean the time necessary for a network packet to be transmitted. Latency, for example, influences the time we need to be able to see a website.
To get an idea of the magnitude of this, in the case of fiber optics, the latency in Spain is between 4 and 20 milliseconds.
How will it change our lives?
5G brings with it many new features and improvements. One of the main and first aspects that we will notice is speed. 5G increases the download speed up to 10 Gigabytes per second. This would allow us to download a movie in high definition in a matter of seconds. If we wanted to download, for example, a 20Mb app, it would be downloaded in less than 2 seconds. It currently takes a little over a 1 minute.
The other great positive aspect will be the reduced latency. This aspect will, above all, help IoT development. This is because it will allow an almost instantaneous intercom between devices.
Currently, in the first Vodafone pilot tests, 10 millisecond figures were achieved, but this aspect still leaves a lot of room for improvement. As the large telecommunications providers deploy and improve the network, it will decrease until it is very close to the theoretical 1 or 2 milliseconds indicated by the protocol.
When will it arrive to Spain?
The major telephone service providers in Spain have not given exact dates in this regard. Vodafone has already launched a pilot plan in 15 cities in Spain since this past summer. This pilot is currently available in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Malaga, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Vigo, Pamplona, La Coruña, Logroño, Gijon, and Santander.
Even so, deployment is not expected to officially arrive until 2020.
Currently, under optimal conditions, the 5G network offered by Vodafone can reach download speeds of up to 1 Gigabyte per second. It is expected that by the end of 2019, it will have increased to 2 Gigabytes per second. In this way, it is already a 10% increase compared to 4G LTE.
Will it be worth investing in a new 5G terminal?
The first 5G phone tests have detected some problems. Currently, in the absence of the 5G network optimization, the cell phones using this technology consume a lot of battery. Much more so than with a 4G network. So, this is the first big battle to be fought.
On the other hand, 5G networks are not present in most countries. It’s safe to say that 5G technology is still in a deployment phase, so its quality is not the best.
Apart from that is the cost of the new 5G terminals. Until they become popular and more brands launch their own versions, prices will be exorbitant. For example, a Samsung Galaxy S10 with 5G support is priced at $1,300.
Therefore, it's most likely that 5G won't be a reality until 2020 or 2021, when all detected shortcomings have been corrected. At the moment, we still do not recommend investing in a 5G terminal.
