5G: Underestimated technology – one giant leap in commercial opportunity
The transition from 3G to 4G, still fresh in all of our minds, could be limiting our collective expectations surrounding the impact of 5G.
Coming your way soon – blazing fast speeds
5G is already available in a handful of major European cities. This is spreading fast with the vast majority of European consumers expected to have access to services by the end of 2020. But what does it all mean?
The best way to explore the potential is to take a look at the numbers. Doing so reveals that the technology is expected, at least, to be tens of times faster than 4G. That restrictive caveat aside, many experts actually expect it to be more like 100 times faster with almost zero latency.
So where peak use of 4G means it can be slow to load comparatively small documents such as PDFs – 5G will make it possible to download a movie in seconds.
Infrastructure freely available in the air
The arrival of 5G won’t be defined by a single new technology or an immediate revolution. Superspeed signal that is freely available in the air will, however, unlock the opportunity to develop much more advanced technologies and services.
Bandwidth and latency issues have particularly hampered data transfer. This is the key to many developing technologies – so development will take on a new life of its own thanks to 5G.
First out of the blocks will be Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ubiquitous technologies such as self-driving cars whose entire concept requires strong, constant signal.
New possibilities for agile work and collaboration
5G will render workers far more nimble. Tethering will become much more viable and opening documents on the move will become quicker. These simple abilities mean workers will be able to progress tasks, for example on a train, rather than waiting until they’re next in the office.
Beyond faster access and mobility – blue sky opportunities are also on the horizon. In the UK, 5G technology has already facilitated a holographic call. During a US trial, a live basketball game was streamed in 360° VR over a 5G network for spectators wearing AR/VR goggles.
Such developments create a place for companies to hold engaging remote conferences, product demonstrations and collaboration sessions with agile workers or overseas teams.
Rethinking business – redefining service
Without speed and latency issues, faster ways of servicing customers can now combine with more intelligent ways of doing business.
Apps for example will become more connected, powerful, image and video centric than ever. At the heart of these developments will be customer service and troubleshooting. Here, Brother is eyeing opportunities to rethink the print-from-mobile experience by adding functionality to our iPrint&Scan app.
Perhaps most exciting of all, the information gathered by your business’ intelligent connected devices will form a bigger data picture that continually focusses the refinement of your services.
Either way it is essential to invest in the technology.
5G smartphone bundles for your workers offer instant additional agility and connectivity. However, to get the most out of infrastructure, businesses should consider moving to the cloud and creating a virtual network. This provides the flexibility to accommodate 5G. Doing so, will keep you at the leading edge of your sector.
