We have seen some massive changes in wireless technology in our lifetimes. From the first generation or 1G we have moved to the fifth generation or 5G in less than 4 decades.
The Communications Research Centre (CRC), the primary research facility for the Government of Canada for telecommunications has made it a prime focus to bring the 5G technology to Canadians. With the increasing pressure on wireless networks all over Canada thanks to increased usage, 5G poses the best solution to help Canadians and Canadian businesses up their game through cutting edge connectivity.
Tracing the Evolution of Wireless Communication
1G – The first generation of wireless internet was introduced back in the 1980s through initial rudimentary mobile communications, or wireless phones. While these served the purpose of talking, they had no data transmitting capacity.
2G – Launched in early 1990s, this form of connectivity saw better sound quality, better security and way more capacity for mobile phones. Activities such as email and text messaging became second nature to us and consumers swapped pagers for mobile phones to send messages to one other.
3G – Revolutionizing how phones were used, this generation brought high speed transmissions, multimedia access and global roaming. In a nutshell, wireless phones could now stay connected over greater distances and in more locations.
4G –Taking the cue for incredible upgrades, 4G opened a world of applications and services through the internet. This technology has enabled us to send data, surf the internet, access our favourite social media on the go, live stream music and shows all on our smart phones.
What is 5G?
The latest iteration of wireless connectivity ushers in a generation that resolves many of the issues that have been noticed in 4G.
Three of the most important areas it is going to be affecting are:
Connectivity
This is essentially the number of devices that can communicate with each other. Tens of billions of devices the world over are connected with each other. While smartphones today are used to communicate with other people, 5G will be all about an age where it will largely be machines speaking to one another. In other words, it is going to throw the doors open to what we know as the Internet of Things. IoT is all about objects being connected with the internet for remote access of the user. Imagine being able to change the thermostat setting at your home just as you leave from work in order to have the house nice and toasty by the time you are back home. That’s what 5G and IoT will accomplish.
Latency
This term refers to the delay it takes for one device to send a package of information to another across the network. The latency in 4G is about 50 milliseconds, for a layman’s comparison, the average blink of an eye takes about 100-400 milliseconds. 5G will reduce the speed of transmitting information across the network to about 1 millisecond, that is roughly one-thousandth of a second. This rapid transmission speed will put in play a number of technologies that require rapid response times, like driver-less cars for example.
Bandwidth
The incredible download and upload speeds offered by 5G will allow for deploying some amazing technologies like 3D 360-degree video streaming. This also works brilliantly in changing the classroom experience in a world where online learning has become a norm. It can help classes become more realistic, immersive and interactive. It can allow mobile headsets to help students learn with a near-classroom feel. Imagine taking a stroll down the reimagined lanes of Rome when learning classical history.
Canada Set to be a 5G Leader
Investment by the wireless industry in the 5G networks are anticipated to contribute nearly $40 billion to the economy and create nearly $256,000 jobs by 2026. Rogers, Canada’s first 5G network has led the way by becoming the nation’s largest as well.
5G is going to change the way we look at technology, not only in terms of speed, but also in terms of the various functionalities that are available to us. To learn more about how you can make the most of 5G connectivity, get in touch!
