How 5G can change your business
Thursday 20th January 2022
For many businesses, it will seem as though only a very short time has passed since 4G was introduced, but 5G is already here, and it promises some significant changes. Individuals will no doubt hear about the benefits when they’re looking to upgrade their phone, but how can 5G help businesses?
There are a few key benefits that many businesses will be able to enjoy if they roll the technology out to phones, tablets, laptops and other devices that they operate.
In this article:
- Speed
- Latency
- Reliability
- Product development
1. Speed
The number one benefit of 5G is of course going to be speed. In some instances, 5G may be up to 100 times faster than 4G when it comes to downloading on the go. This is likely to be a game changer for mobile workers that deal with large files such as videos, design works and more.
It’s especially beneficial for businesses that use synced cloud storage on tablets, smartphones and laptops. There should no longer be an issue with staying up-to-date with company data while employees are away from the office or their home WiFi.
2. Latency
Latency is something that many people will not really be too aware of, but it can be really important. Latency is the delay when using a mobile phone through its internet connection, which can be particularly annoying when dealing with things like conference calls. There’s nothing more annoying than people speaking over one another because there’s a delay. Up until now, many businesses have stuck with the standard phone network instead, but 5G should make conference through data much easier.
3. Reliability
Leading on from the conference call benefits of improved latency is the added reliability that 5G should bring.
Dropped calls are annoying when they’re personal, but when they’re important to the functioning of the business, they can be costly too. 5G promises to ensure that employees can reliably keep in contact with the business, partners and customers whenever they’re on the move.
Of course, this will heavily rely on the coverage of networks, which means it will be as important as ever to choose providers with extensive coverage. Major cities in the UK should have 5G fairly quickly, but that’s not necessarily the case for all areas.
4. Product development
Our final point isn’t necessarily something that will benefit all businesses, but it’s potentially transformative nonetheless. The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasing the number of connected devices, and not all of them can be used with WiFi.
Indeed, with the advent of 5G, WiFi may not be the most effective solution for some products any longer. This will mean that businesses can develop new, better products that can make use of things like superior latency. If we think about autonomous cars for instance - these have to rapidly communicate - potentially with a central database or other cars - through a mobile network. 5G will be ideal for this, and will also offer larger capacity for more data and devices on the network..
