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In this article we are going to explore the benefits expected to be experienced by households. There is a big noise currently due to the deployment of 5G infrastructure and services. However a quick internet search and discussions with non-experts in the field, there isn't a very good understanding of the topic apart from “faster broadband”, “faster internet connection”, “the one after 4G”. My colleague Meghan Pugh has written a warm up 5G introduction. The breaking changes of 5G are aiming to improve our lifes from several perspectives. In this article we are going to discuss three big areas affecting every household; health, video communication and immersive event experiences.
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Various companies have emerged in the recent years focusing on improving one of the biggest human needs: healthcare. The health industry offers remote diagnosis and operations with only a tap on the phone! Additionally, wearables have become the norm, as they help people spot abnormalities in their body. 5G can improve the various offering due to the delay reduction and is currently being used in various trials.
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Currently, 5G video calls are made over the phones. In the long term, data heavy streams such as full HD, 4K and 8K will require different types of devices, such as 5G-enabled augmented reality (AR) devices and virtual reality (VR) headsets. Benefiting of 5G’s ability to stream big loads of data in real-time, video-calling applications will be upgraded in order to achieve 360° views. This way familiy members and friends from around the world will be able to gather together in a more tangible way.
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If you've ever wondered how a sporting event will look like in the next few years amid COVID-19, then we are lucky that sporting organisations had the same worry at the beginning of the pandemic and thought of immersive experiences at home. The question we should ask ourselves now is how to keep their spectators happily connected, especially with the existing mobile and Wi-Fi networks lack of bandwidth capacity in densely-populated environments. Operators are excited to see 5G networks as the answer to this issue. Fans are also excited to experience again an (almost) real life attendance to their favourite game of hockey/football/basketball/water polo or other. Augmented Reality will also provide information that could not be seen before during a game. This information includes the power used for a shot in football, how fast they ran in the sprint, how high a basketball player jumbed for a jumball etc. Even better video recording can be achieved using drones and companies have already started to work on it. A well known telco provider has recently bought a big drone operating company and in this way they are planning to fly multiple drones during an event and get a better shots of the scene. Data will need to be processed on the Edge and the 5G capabilities can help massively with the speed and efficiency in transmitting the data. More details about Edge computing can be found this blog written by Kye Grundy.
Now, the bad news is that companies and individuals are facing different concerns, issues and challenges on various topics in regards to the aforementioned (and other) 5G use cases. Following a brainstorming period with peers in my network, I have come up with the following list of issues:
I’m a Senior Consultant at Net Reply within the Future Networks Business Unit. The team consists of consultants, software developers, technology enthusiasts specialising in Telecommunications and technological concepts such as Software Defined Networks (SDN), Network Function Virtualisation (NFV), DevOps. Our mission is to build the Next Generation Networks leveraging the art of software and latest technological trends. If you would like more information on these, please contact me on . Alternatively you can learn more about us on LinkedIn (Net UK) and Twitter (Net UK) or you could just find me on LinkenIn (Stelios Moschos).