What is 5G Technology? 

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5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade so far in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks. The 5G technology mainly works in 3 bands, (low, mid and high–frequency spectrum). The important feature of 5G is: 

    • 5G services will provide up to 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) of download speed. It is 100 times higher than the existing network speed. The upload time will also increase drastically. 
    • The energy efficiency of devices and stability of network connections will improve further with the 5G technology. 
    • 5G services work across the low, medium and high–frequency spectrums. This will avoid any network congestions. 
    • 5G services will have ultra-low latency (time taken by a network to respond). Latency for is predicted to be below 10 milliseconds, and in best cases around 1 millisecond. 
    • A government panel report expects the peak 5G data speeds are to be in the range of 2-20 Gbps. 
    • 5G technologies are the enabler of AI technologies, IoT ecosystems etc. 
Three bands of 5G and their characteristics: 
5G Spectrum band Characteristics of Spectrum 
low band spectrum Higher coverage with low-speed internet 

  • Maximum speed of low–band is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second) 
  • Generally used for commercial cell phone users 
  • This is not optimal for the specialised needs of the industry. 
mid-band spectrum Higher speed but has lower coverage area and penetration of signals compared to the low band. 

  • This may be used by industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks. 
high-band spectrum Offers highest speed, but has extremely limited coverage and signal strength 

  • Internet speeds has been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second) 
  • This is best suited for Enterprise use cases that utilise massive Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-reliable, low-latency communications. 

 

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