5G Technology- The Promise of a Better Future

5G is the next-generation communication network that has been christened by the media hype machine with phrases like “world-changing,” “quantum leap,” and “this will change everything” to describe what lies ahead. But what exactly is 5G?

How 5G works?

The signals of the 5G technology will be transmitted via large number of small cell stations located in places like light poles or building roofs unlike 4G, that needs large, high-power cell towers to radiate signals over longer distances.

The use of multiple small cells is necessary as the millimeter-wave spectrum, that 5G relies on to generate high speeds, can only travel over short distances and is subject to interference from weather and physical obstacles.

Internationally, network operators are working to develop two types of 5G services. The first one is the 5G fixed wireless broadband services that will be delivering internet access to homes and businesses without a wired connection to the premises.

The second one is 5G cellular services that will be providing user access to operators’ 5G cellular networks.

With the launch of the 5G, the 4G technology will be eventually replaced or at least it will be augmented. As other than the fast download speed, it is using unique radio frequencies that are higher and more directional than those used by 4G.

The directionality of 5G is important because 4G towers send data all over, which can waste power and energy and ultimately weaken access to the internet.

How 5G will Change Everything?

Some of the things on the following list are already being experimented with or happening on a limited scale, but the coming decade will see 5G unfold in ways hard to imagine.

Future of the Banking Industry

In a post 5G world, ATMs will be replaced with smartphones and identity management will become a core discipline taught in every school. Cash will dwindle to a fraction of its use today. Virtual tellers will replace most human tellers and automated micro-loans will become banking’s new profit center.

In a post 5G world, ATMs will be replaced with smartphones and identity management will become a core discipline taught in every school

Future of Agriculture

The agriculture industry is teetering on the edge of a data-revolution. Both food and ag-grown products will have rapidly shifting supply chains with real-time data streams highlighting every swing in consumer preference.

 

The agriculture industry is teetering on the edge of a data-revolution

Macro warning systems will caution farmers about encroaching diseases, insects, weather fronts, etc. and real-time monitoring and AR visual scanning of crops with a continuous feed of plant, soil, and yield analytics. Livestock tags will allow for visual AR screening and analysis of animals.

Most farm-grown produce, grains, nuts, and other crops will be date-tagged, geo-tagged, and chemical-tagged in a blockchain database to give consumers a more informed choice.

Future of Healthcare

For sick people in rural areas, with doctors located many miles away, traveling long distances to find a doctor can be rough. This will change as virtual healthcare becomes more common.

With remote in-home examining systems, doctors will be only a Skype call away

With remote in-home examining systems, doctors will be only a Skype call away. They will even be able to monitor analytics, write prescriptions, and manage patient responses when needed.

Full-body health scans will give rise to real-time holographic monitoring of surgeries, heart-scans, liver-scans, digestive system-scans, and more. Language translation services will enable doctors and nurses to work with patients who don’t speak the same language. Wearable AI-based health monitors will become common, and far more sophisticated over time.

Future of Insurance

Insurance is the fine art of mitigating damage to a perceived risk. While emerging technology will reduce risk in certain areas, it will also increase risk in others. At the heart of every insurance policy is a customer making a calculated decision to hedge his or her bets against the probability of disaster.

5G will offer companies the ability to automate probability curves in real time, significantly reducing transaction costs, and opening the door for micro policies that have never been profitable in the past.

Automated holographic full-body scan security systems will replace “showing an ID”. Rapid-response drone scanning of households, vehicles, and businesses will take place following every claim. Increased use of blockchain will enable companies to better assess personal ownership networks and changing valuations in real time.

5G will offer companies the ability to automate probability curves in real time, significantly reducing transaction costs, and opening the door for micro policies that have never been profitable in the past

A number of new robot insurance policies will be designed to cover the multi-dimensionality of robot uses. Life-mapping as a process will be used for uncovering a person’s risk patterns.

Future of the Transportation

Driverless technology will be the most disruptive technology in all history. Virtually every job related to the automotive industry will be affected in some way.

Parking lots, garages, traffic cops, traffic courts, gas stations, tire shops, emissions testing, drivers licenses, traffic cones, weigh stations, guardrails, stoplights, and DUIs will all begin to disappear. At the same time, we will be creating new businesses and new jobs at an unprecedented rate.

Driverless technology will be the most disruptive technology in all history

Future of Education

Education continues to be the largest opportunity in the online world where no one has quite cracked the code.

Virtual involvement training apps will offer a new kind of learning experience

Virtual sensory reducers will help students manage their distractions. Brain stimulators will become commonplace to momentarily amp up a person’s cranial inputs. Virtual involvement training apps will offer a new kind of learning experience. New micro-learning processes will be gamified with rewards to help those in need of job-ready skills.

Future of Retail

Physical stores are not going away any time soon, but the value they add to their communities and the variety of products they offer will remain in transition for the foreseeable future. Click-and-buy selling on-the-street will employ the use of live models to draw attention to products, encouraging consumers to simply scan-click-and-buy.

Physical stores are not going away any time soon, but the value they add to their communities and the variety of products they offer will remain in transition for the foreseeable future

AR visual purchase history of every customer as they walk in will be maintained. Physical signage will be replaced with holographic projected signage. Well-choreographed holographic buying events such as auctions, countdown sales, flash sales, and more will become a regular affair.

Future of Entertainment

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. Somewhere in that phrase is the human need for entertainment. Every thought we think is creating our future, but we won’t be able to understand it until it’s over.

Macro projection systems will turn increasingly large venues, such as stadiums, neighborhoods, and entire cities, into live performance art locations

Macro projection systems will turn increasingly large venues, such as stadiums, neighborhoods, and entire cities, into live performance art locations. E-sports will become the world’s largest sports-related industry. Gamified citizenship will be both entertaining and super invasive.

Are we Ready Yet?

5G will bring a great technology shift in Pakistan as its speeds will be one thousand times faster than current LTE data transfer speeds. It will bring a massive increase in the level of connectivity. Not only this, 5G will impact every industry in Pakistan like autos, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, emergency services.

Once Pakistan introduces  5G successfully, it will open a new arena for smart devices and in the coming years, it will ensure employment along with investment opportunities in Pakistan

Once Pakistan introduces 5G successfully, it will open a new arena for smart devices and in the coming years, it will ensure employment along with investment opportunities in Pakistan.

But before Pakistan adapts to 5G technology, it is really important to understand and evaluate the viability of such technology both commercially and intellectually. Existing 3G and 4G networks and their commercial and industrial usage could be a good starting point to assess the demand-and-supply side of the mobile-internet market in the country. Under normal circumstances, a properly deployed 4G network is believed to be good enough for IT-led businesses that mostly rely on mobile internet. Therefore, many telecom experts put question marks over “use case” of 5G network in Pakistan until 2025.

5G is the 5th-generation cellular technology and characterized by faster internet speed (~10 to 20 times faster than 4G) and lower latency, i.e. ~1-4 milliseconds compare to ~ 20 milli-seconds with 4G. No doubt 5G technology has a wide scope and industrial applications including self-driving cars, streaming virtual reality, 3D holographic video calls, etc.

Mostly, initial 5G deployments utilize the existing 4G infrastructure. In Pakistan, there are still several issues like insufficient availability of spectrum, poor fiber-optic connectivity, and limited area coverage, etc which exists related to the 4G network. It is very important to resolve those basic but important problems and strengthen the existing infrastructure before moving to next-generation 5G technology.

Recently, a framework for test and development of future technologies particularly 5G wireless networks has been unveiled by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in the country.

In Pakistan, there are still several issues like insufficient availability of spectrum, poor fiber-optic connectivity, and limited area coverage, etc which exists related to the 4G network

The 5G trial Framework will enable the radio spectrum use on trial basis for non-commercial purposes in order to carry out trials for innovative use of radio frequency spectrum, apparatus/equipment and academic purposes including but not limited to scientific research, radio concepts and new systems demonstrations.

 

 Zong is the first telecom company to test 5G in Pakistan

The mobile operators of the country have already been working on the new technology. Zong is the first telecom company to test 5G in Pakistan.

In much the same way that the 1985 Apple LaserWriter gave birth to desktop publishing, and the 2010 MakerBot’s Thing-O-Matic 3D printer gave birth to desktop manufacturing, a world filled with 5G will give birth to hundreds of thousands of new products, systems, and desktop industries. The Government must have to work hard to introduce 5G technology in the country as it is more expensive than 4G.

Pakistan has conducted a vast number of trials and experiments in different parts of the country. But still, there is a need for research and resources in order to support the efforts.