Mobile Phone Technology

It is a familiar question: why isn't 4G good enough? 5G offers three potential improvements over the 4G network: more capacity, faster communications and lower latency. These features make many more applications possible.

The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) has defined three uses for 5G:

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband [EMB] : this is what consumers see on their phones. 5G will provide a fast, reliable network for mobile broadband.
• Massive Machine Type Communications [MMTC], which is aimed at industrial customers with sites that are controlled via sensors and actuators. This is industrial-level IoT.
• Ultra - reliable Low Latency Communications [URLLC] are used for real-time operations. The 5G network can send data quickly and with low latency.

Some Examples:

1. Video / TV Video on demand will offer a better experience, with minimal buffering. There will be no need to download videos via home broadband prior to watching them on a phone. The same experiences will be available for live or on-demand TV.
2. IoT, Connected Homes, Health and Smart Cities. The concept of adding smart technology to our homes has grown over the past decade, with smart alarms, security cameras and heating management systems becoming increasingly popular, as well as smart plugs, lights and switches. Not to mention smart meters. All of these items require a mobile connection for remote access. These items often work in isolation, but with a bit of redesign and greater use of mobile communication, smart home systems will evolve.
   But what about fitness and healthcare? Remote monitoring of individuals for fitness or health reasons would be highly beneficial to society, and a better network would be needed if a significant proportion of the population were to be monitored. Our health and fitness could be monitored 24/7, even while we're out and about.
   Smart cities are starting to be built with information systems that provide details of the nearest parking spaces and public transport, as well as adverts that could potentially provide income to support these developments. Additionally, 5G can be used for control systems such as traffic management, visitor management and crowd control.
3. Improved Broadband Much of the UK's urban areas have improved broadband with fibre to the property. However, there has been less progress in updating home and business broadband in rural areas. Even with FTTP, the fibres only solve the static problem. Many people require broadband while on the move, whether on foot or travelling by car or train. The higher speeds and greater capacity of 5G will enhance the mobile broadband experience for many, allowing them to work on the go or anywhere, anytime. Better mobile broadband can be used where the best static broadband is FTTC or worse. 5G speeds can easily outperform many of these older broadband solutions.
4. Real-time control Which applications require real-time control in a mobile environment? Not driverless cars or air traffic control, as seen in an early 5G advert. Real-time control is definitely an area for development, but we have not yet addressed this; many applications work just as well over fibre broadband. However, in areas without fibre broadband, such as along our roads and railways, 5G could be the solution.
5. VR - Virtual Reality Virtual reality can enhance the film-going experience and make computer games even more immersive. It can also add to the experience at sports or music venues by enabling viewers to see things that are out of their line of sight or replay the 'good bits'. At a football match, for example, the crowd only sees a goal once. Highlights could be sent to the crowd on their phones, perhaps with VR glasses. What about streaming VAR as it happens? Cricket is a slower-paced game and could easily show virtual wickets, as is done much later on TV. This would require a high-capacity network, and 5G will be the solution.

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