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5G is – surprise, surprise – dominating this year's Mobile World Congress [MWC] as more emphasis is heaped on how non-telco vertical sectors can use the fledgling technology.
Unlike 4G or any previous cellular generation, 5G aims to cover a wider set of use cases from the outset: not only enhanced mobile broadband, but also massive machine-type communications and ultra-reliable low latency applications. The new capabilities could broaden cellular-based networks to potential new users, particularly in vertical industries from automotive to factory automation.
To achieve that, the telecom sector is seeking input from other verticals on 5G use cases and technical requirements that will help them to shape standards. During the last 18 months to two years, the telecom industry has been urging vertical sectors to get involved and there are now signs of engagement.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/27/5g_finds_vertical_home/
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Wednesday February 28 2018, @01:24PM (4 children)
It is for making existing mobile devices obsolete, forcing eveyone to buy new ones while promising some vague nebulous benefit. Because it is good for the planet or safer for the children or some such.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday February 28 2018, @01:35PM (1 child)
4G E-UTRA which is the modulation mode for 4G super LTE or whatever marketing BS, which I've never personally experienced seeing maxed out, could theoretically run 300 megabits/sec in a heavily rigged test scenario, so I (or a mobile phone DDOS virus, or whatever) could use up my 1G of monthly purchased bandwidth in about 27 seconds.
With 5G, its hard to find tech data that isn't gatewayed behind paywalls or mere marketing babble, but 1.056 Gbit/s keeps appearing. So when I upgrade my ancient obsolete 18 month old Nexus 6P to a 5G phone someday, in a heavily rigged demo under ideal conditions I could use up my 1G of monthly purchased bandwidth in about 8 seconds of use.
I guess that's progress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01 2018, @08:40AM
So, 3G speeds... But I guess that's already clear from the name, since LTE is the cell phone equivalent of "service pack 2", as in "3G service pack 2".
I remember NTT Docomo announcing that they were doing gigabits (10 Gbit, I think) over this new "4G" thing back some time around 2006. Though I'm sure that was also a heavily rigged scenario.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday February 28 2018, @04:00PM
I remember getting my first phone with GPRS (2G) support. It was really slow, but I could use it with my laptop (as a Bluetooth dial-up device) to get email about as quickly as I'd been able to get it via a modem some years earlier. Then I got a phone with UMTS (3G) support, and now I could download things at about 50KB/s - about the speed of the first broadband Internet connection that I had, a smaller number of years earlier (though the latency was much worse). Each of these was a huge jump - from nothing to slow, then from slow to useable. I now have a phone that supports HSPA and a tablet that supports LTE and they're both fast, but slower than my home connection. I've not tried streaming video on either, but apparently my network's average LTE speed is 18Mb/s, so ample for that. We're well into diminishing returns.
The main benefit of faster connections now is that you can fit more users at the same speed, which is more of an obvious advantage to operators than to end users.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01 2018, @12:02PM
Exactly. All you need to know is 5G is very
* expensive
* desirable.
Now go buy it. -- The Corporation