| Demand of the question Introduction. What is 5g technology? Body. What are main differences between 5g and 4g? Discuss various advantages of 5G technology. Conclusion. Way forward. |
5g is the next generation wireless cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency. A government panel report points out that with 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gigabit per second (Gbps). This can help in good governance and can lead to higher economic growth in India.
| 5g | 4g |
| 5G uses utilises much higher radio frequencies of 28 ghz. | 4G uses lower reading frequencies of 700 mhz to 2500 mhz. |
| 5G transfer more data over the air at faster speeds. | 4G speed is lesser with less data transfer. |
| 5G has lower latency i.e the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction. Latency for 5G is predicted to be below 10 milliseconds, and in best cases around 1 millisecond. | 4G has higher latency as compared to 5G. Latency for 4G is around 20-30 milliseconds. |
| 5G uses millimetre wave spectrum which enables more devices to be used within the same geographic area supporting around one million per square kilometre. | 4G support lesser number of devices of about 4,000 devices per square kilometre. |
| 5G uses a new digital technology that improve coverage, speed and capacity. | 4G has led to more congestion and lesser coverage as compared to 5G. |
Various advantages of 5G technology:
- High speed: 5G will revolutionise the mobile experience with speedy wireless network. Compared to conventional mobile transmission technologies, voice and high-speed data can be simultaneously transferred efficiently in 5G. This will enhance and support government’s effort to promote digital India.
- Better Governance: Better speed and connectivity would reduce red tapism. It will enhance speedy completion of projects and better implementation of policies. It will enable accountability in the system through a better monitoring system and will reduce corruption.
- Low latency: It is one of the most important features of 5G technology which is significant for autonomous driving and mission critical applications. 5G networks are capable of latency less than a millisecond. This help in logistics improvement and would reduce overall cost of goods and services.
- Employment generation: 5G wireless technology will open greater opportunity for new device manufactures and application developers. New VoIP devices and smart devices will be introduced in the market and thus more job opportunities as well. This will help in inclusive growth reaping demographic dividend.
- Enhanced network coverage: Device-to-device communication techniques will further enhance network performance and support during limited access or absence of mobile networks. This will help in reducing digital gap in India.
- Entertainment and multimedia industry: Analysts found that 55% of mobile Internet traffic has been used for video downloads globally in 2015. This trend will increase in future and high definition video streaming will be common in future. This will help in growth of entertainment industry and thus more jobs will be there. It will also increase government revenue through taxes.
- Enhanced Security: 5G wireless technology is one the best solution for security surveillance due to higher bandwidth and unlicensed spectrum. It will enhance better coordination among various agencies.
- Logistics and shipping: Logistic and shipping industry can make use of smart 5G technology for goods tracking, fleet management, centralized database management, staff scheduling and real-time delivery tracking and reporting.
- Smart cities: It will fuel government’s smart city project. Smart city application like traffic management, instant weather update, local area broadcasting, energy management, smart power grid, smart lighting of street, water resource management, crowd management, emergency response etc. can use reliable 5G wireless network for its functioning.
- Industrial Growth: Future industries will depend on smart wireless technologies like 5G and LTE advanced for efficient automation of equipment, maintenance, safety, tracking, smart packing, shipping, logistics and energy management.
- Agricultural applications: 5g technology can be used for agriculture and smart farming in future. Using smart RFID sensors and GPS technology, farmers can track location of livestock and manage them easily. Smart sensors can be used for irrigation control, access control and energy management.
- Healthcare and mission critical applications: 5G technology will support medical practitioners to perform advanced medical procedures with reliable wireless network connected to another side of the globe. Doctors can connect with patients from anywhere anytime and advice them when necessary. Scientists are working on smart medical devices which can perform remote surgery. Smart medical devices like wearable will continuously monitor patient’s condition and activate alert during emergency.
India should not miss the opportunity and should proactively work to deploy 5g technology. We should focus on strengthening our cyber infrastructure. Funds should be allocated and local technology and telecom firms should be incentivised to develop their internal capacities which would in turn help 5G technology succeed in the country. 5g start-ups that enable this design and manufacturing capabilities should be promoted.
