5G – What Makes It Different & How Does It Impact Your Business

You may see ads from your cell provider touting the coming of 5G, and you’re wondering what it is and what makes this different from the previous versions of cellular technology.

In this article, we look upon a new age in the cellular timeline and how it can benefit your business.

What Is 5G?

Stated by a wireless expense management company, 5G is a new wireless technology designed to deliver faster speeds and better latency times over previous generations of cell systems. By comparison, 5G is said to supply download speeds of up to 20 Gbps, whereas current LTE (4G) technology downloads at 50 Mbps. However, more important than speed are the latency times of 5G. With current LTE technology, latency (or the time it takes for the signal to connect to the network) is about 40 milliseconds. 5G blazes at about 1 millisecond.

As an example of why latency is significant, think about any time you’ve watched a live news broadcast where one anchor is in the United States, and another is in another country. Notice how long it sometimes takes for one person to respond to the other; this is because of low latency times.

Who’s Developing 5G

All the significant carriers in the United States: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are developing and deploying 5G networks. However, these networks are still only in the starting stage and are only being launched in major cities. It will be years before 5G is the standard across the country.

How 5G Can Benefit a Business

Many companies enjoy workforces deployed around the world, which rely on high-speed connections to communicate and collaborate. As more people work from home, 5G makes for quicker and more reliable communications. As a business, you can reduce the need for employees ‘on-site’ and make better use of workers such as freelancers or contract workers which saves on your bottom line, while increasing the effectiveness and expertise of your workforce.

Another thing to consider when making the jump to 5G is the customer service factor. Faster, more reliable data connections make serving your customers easier and provide a better experience for them, which increases customer loyalty.

Also, faster communications and more reliable networks allow your business to become more efficient. When communication between people and machines or machines to devices happens with fewer hiccups and less downtime because of network issues, your company operates more smoothly and efficiently, saving money and improving efficiency.

Safety is another area to consider when talking about high-speed data and more reliable networks that 5G affords. Consider the advances of self-driving vehicles and other technologies which rely on systems to keep people safe. As a company, using machines with the ability to talk to one another in real time presents a world of possibilities to keep workers and customers safe and improve your overall business operations.

While nationwide 5G is still a ways off, businesses that prepare for it now will be ahead of the game once it arrives.

Article is submitted by Mark D. Hearn (CEO and President at Network Control)