5G guide
WWW.T3INDIA.COM APRIL 2019 T3 Tomorrow’s Technology Today 49showcased at the 2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, South Korea, used a pre-
standard version of 5G developed by Korea
Telecom, while Verizon’s 5G fixed-wireless
broadband implementation, launched to
limited markets late last year, uses the
company’s own self-developed 5G formula.
The first and most crucial factor of 5G’s
rollout is consensus; happily, it looks
like the 5G NR standard has been pretty
much universally adopted worldwide, and
even Verizon has stated that it’ll change its
standard in the future as long as 5G NR
meets its expectations.
5G also has a host of other external factors
to deal with. While it’s able to throw around
a massive amount of data very quickly, 5G is
far more prone to atmospheric interference
than slower-speed wireless tech – if you’ve
ever compared 2.4GHz Wi-Fi to 5GHz and
noticed the latter struggling with reach, it’s
a similar situation. 5G’s radio waves can, at
the most, propagate around a kilometre in
clear line of sight and with no obstructions,
and generally aren’t effectively received
outside of around 250m. Put walls or other
obstacles in the way, and that distance is
reduced even further. Taking advantage of
the fastest 5G transmissions requires close
proximity to a mast – so our mobile
infrastructure, and even the theory around
it, is going to need a major overhaul to make
5G the norm.
We’ll also need a jump forward in device
support. Backwards compatibility with 4G
networks won’t be an issue since the older
system won’t be going anywhere for the
foreseeablefuture,butthere’slittlehardware available today that’s actually
ready to take advantage of 5G. That won’t be
the case for long. Networks are committing
to and pushing for a rapid rollout, and even
collaborating to get the job done in the case
of O2 and Vodafone. Device manufacturers
are equally excited to get on board – with a
global standard now seemingly ratified, and
networks readying up their masts, expect 5G
support in phones and even home routers to
become the norm. And let’s not forget
consumers. We all want to get our hands on
5G devices. It’s a perfect storm of demand
and, hopefully, supply.YEARS OF HOPE
5G absolutely means a bright future for
technology, and it’s one that’s pretty close.
By the end of 2019, the networks will have
been installed 5G in some of the country’s
busiest urban areas. But the rollout will likely
not be as fast as, say, 4G, which itself was
frustratingly slow to expand- 5G’s comparatively short range means it
requires many more transmitters, making
widespread installation a difficult task. It
could be years until 5G reaches your street,
so don’t bin your current phone just yet.
Rural areas will almost certainly have to
wait even longer once the main 5G rollout
is complete, but for those forced to rely
on satellite internet because traditional
broadband is too expensive to install, 5G
(when it reaches them) may be a truly
life-changing tech.
We’re also not positive on what the price
will be. If 5G continues to employ the capped
data plans of 4G, its utility may be limited
not by its speed but by its cost – so your home
broadband connection is safe for now. But
that’s an ‘if’ – given the potential capacity of
5G, unmetered connections like the 50 Euro
per month plan announced by Finnish
network Elisa may be a solid possibility.
We can only hope.
When is 5G not 5G? When it’s 4G wearing
a fake moustache and glasses. American
network AT&T has begun transitioning
some of its customers to what it calls 5G E,
and convinced some manufacturers to
display a 5G E logo on the status bar of
phones. Thing is, 5G E absolutely isn’t 5G.
In fact, it’s a slightly boosted form of 4G
LTE with an average data rate of around
40Mbps, slapped with a confusing, and
some might say highly misleading, label.
T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, biased as he
may be, claims AT&T is “duping customers
into thinking they’re getting something
they’re not.” Sprint’s spokesperson went
one further,stating“AT&T is blatantly
misleading consumers.” It’s not hard to see
why this has everyone riled; AT&T’s
mocked-up screenshots show the ‘5G’ part
of the logo large, and the ‘E’ in a tiny font
next to it – all this on what is resolutely a
4G network.AT&T seems happy with its decision.
“Every company is guilty of building a
narrative of how you want the world to
work,” said AT&T CEO John Donovan on
stage at CES, “and I love the fact that we
broke our industry’s narrative... and they’re
frustrated.”
Don’t expect this deceptive branding
to be a common thread as the 5G
rollout happens. But when your
favourite network starts offering ‘5G’,
it’s certainly going to pay to do your
research and be absolutely certain of
what you’re really getting before you
sign up.5G FAKERY