Things You Should Know About 5G Adoption in the United States

Since the release of the 5G specification back in 2017, it has been deployed in over 378 cities and 34 countries as of January 2020 according to a report published by Viavi Solutions. In the same report, it was reported less than 1% of US cities are supported by 5G. In October 2020, Apple launched its iPhone 12 series of consumer devices that supported 5G connectivity which is a clear indication that demand for this technology and infrastructure plans will soon ramp up. With the support of 5G consumers will be able to download, stream, deliver content at unprecedented speeds that the 4G predecessor couldn’t deliver.

Given all the excitement around 5G, it’s important to understand the use cases of 5G and why consumers should care about it. What you will see will be every network-connected device will be impacted by 5G in the future. In order for this promise to be realized, telecommunication companies (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.) will have to build/upgrade their network infrastructure by deploying local nodes that can work within rural and urban cities, capital investments, and federal legislation to develop a robust implementation strategy. In this article, we’ll highlight key considerations of 5G as the technology matures in the United States.

What are the 5G terms I should care about?

1. uRLLC: Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication — this application of 5G will provide mission-critical systems low latency and high reliability. An example of this can be observed by Amazon’s partnership with Verizon & Blackberry for the Ivy initiative to build a data platform to help bolster the infrastructure for connected vehicles for traffic management.
2. mMTC: Massive Machine Type Communication (IoT)- Enabling network capabilities for sensing, metering, and monitoring devices. Applications of this technology will be evident in smart waste, energy, and parking management for cities of the future.
3. eMBB: Enhanced Mobile Broadband — Faster speeds for use cases requiring high data rates like large-scale video streaming, and downloading content. With the implementation of 5G, consumers can expect up to 100x performance gains in comparison to 4G networks.

What to expect next for 5G?

As the 5G networks continue to increase in adoption, pay close attention to the following:

1. Capital investments into the 5G infrastructure in urban and rural cities.
2. Digitalization trends of everyday use cases like logistics, traffic management, and energy consumption.
3. Federal Legislation (see Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020) to preserve the security of these systems from malicious data attacks.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and welcome feedback as we go on this #TechIntuitions journey together into the new year. 💯🖤