“5G isn’t just another tech innovation, it’s the platform that makes other innovations possible.”
The fact that 5G networks are slowly but steadily taking over our world is becoming everyday more undeniable.
Why?
Consumers have been tired of contracts with rising fees and restrictive terms that provide poor connectivity and low speed internet.
They have been promised huge changes, one of which could be the serious disruption to home internet which brings us to the consideration: could, one day, 5G replace our home broadband connection?
Let us first give a brief:
What is 5 G?
The 5G (5th generation wireless technology) that has followed the first 4 Gs, is the most recent global wireless standard.
It was created by several companies within the mobile ecosystem such as Verizon, T-Mobile and others, and it enables a new kind of network designed with extended capacity to provide a higher level of virtual connectivity.
Thats connect not only everyone, but everything together, including devices, machines and objects.
Advantages and benefits of 5 G
Being a unified and more capable interface.
The 5G technology is mainly meant to deliver higher peak data speeds (up to 10 GBPS) at an exceptionally ultra- low latency,
more bandwidth, and with higher reliability within a massive network capacity that is defined by increased availability that expands the mobile ecosystem into new realms.
The benefits of 5G
connectivity are expected to revolutionize businesses, to make them more efficient, and to give its users more access to information and faster than ever:
- It is certainly one of the fastest technologies our world will have ever seen, and this brings capabilities that create a never-experienced-before opportunities for businesses, individuals and societies, providing services that were previously perceived as futuristic.
- 5G technology guarantees quicker uploads and downloads, negligible latency and a significant impact on all aspects of our lives that involves but not limited to:
digitized logistics, e-healthcare, precise agriculture, advanced gaming, smart stadiums, connected vehicles, and safer traffic system
- In addition, 5G allows users to place 3D hologram calls, access virtual reality applications, and easily play multiple HD videos. 5G also enables communication between driverless cars as well as with further traffic infrastructure.
- Moreover, 5G is capable of coping with the densely populated areas.
- It can, as well, be highly beneficial in rural areas where the traditional broadband infrastructure is not set up to proper standards
This creates a more uniform user experience to a wider range of users;it enhances the next generation-user user experience where higher performance and improved efficiency empower more user experiences and enables more connections with new industries,
empowering new deployment models and delivering more services.
Could 5G replace cable broadband? The real competition
When it comes to home broadband competition, and with everything mentioned above, wireless carriers want consumers to believe that it is very possible to have the 5G rather replacing the conventional broadband links.
But whether or not commercial and technological realities will guarantee this, this remains uncertain.
Despite the effort exerted for long years and the huge amounts of money spent to connect remote communities.
Millions of people are still found to not have safe access to superfast broadband. Traditionally,
governments have searched various ways not only to expand but to upgrade their cable networks in order to provide everyone a fast internet access.
On the other hand, the 5G technology currently offers the aspired super fast internet speeds, excluding from the scene the need for a fixed-line connection as it is the case with the broadband connections.
Excluding these broadband connections, despite being an experienced reality with 4G LTE,
switching from wire to wireless and getting online via a cellular network rather than the traditional wired internet connection for home internet,
The disruptive 5 G technology is becoming a more viable proposition consumers thanks to being more robust, faster, and at a much lower cost, bringing the potential to accelerate all processes.
Meanwhile, to take place, this depends on many factors, such as availability, cost and network coverage.
Challenges
The full shift to 5G technologies is faced by notable challenges:
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Economic challenge:
Whether or not the network providers are able to get it to make sense economically is still a questioning area
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Coverage expenses:
The best 5G coverage for home broadband might be found too expensive to fully deploy fully, which creates opportunity for more affordable yet less speedy alternatives that are subject to bandwidth and data restrictions, reducing, accordingly, their appeal.
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Infrastructure:
The big challenge in substituting traditional cable broadband with 5G highlights, before all, the infrastructure
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Connectivity:
Upgrading the traditional cable speeds to those offered by 5G requires connecting every house to this network with its own fibre
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- Transmitters: To augment the 5G network, it is required the installation of a much higher number of transmitters that are all connected to the fibre network, while each can individually cover many homes.
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Costs dilemma:
Comparing the costs of every option becomes itself challenging as both approaches involve very different infrastructure challenges on its own
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Reliability:
Guaranteeing a fully reliable service for customers can be another challenge for mobile networks since their signals and the mm Wave frequencies can be affected by several factors such as:
rain fade, distance from the transmitter or obstacles and interference from other devices, causing a noticeable lag in connectivity.
For businesses and those who work from home, this is counted as a major concern.
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Range:
Not to be ignored is the 5 G range as if the user is located at some distance away from a tower, then a traditional internet broadband is considered more preferable.
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Data rates:
Last but not least, competing with cable broadband providers or replacing the normal cable network,
requires that 5G should support similar data rates, given that the practical data rate of mobile networks is much lower than their theoretical rates.
Hence, the 5G practical data rate can be as low as 200 Mbps, despite the fact that it can theoretically support up to 10 Gbps,
which may support typical internet use, but is never suitable for heavy users who, for example, play high-speed online games or stream multiple simultaneous videos.
Are technology providers working on solutions?
Yes, definitely!
These challenges are diminishing everyday more as technology providers are constantly working on and developing new ways to overcome them.
For example, “massive MIMO” technology of 5G systems is using as many as 96 antennas in order to create multiple simultaneous data connections between various devices.
In addition, “Edge computing” is involving mobile towers to step ahead of their own data storage and processing, rather than depending on cloud data centres which are allocated miles away.
These features support 5G become a stronger candidate to eventually replace traditional cable broadband.
Conclusion
Despite being highly beneficial to businesses, societies and individuals, some challenges might hinder the current full adoption of 5G, making it not possible to completely replace cable broadband with 5G unless all barriers are removed.
