Although many business leaders remain perplexed regarding 5G technology, its arrival is imminent. And, like every other generation of mobile data technology before it, 5G will offer opportunities for businesses who are prepared for it. Here’s what 5G technology is and how businesses should prepare for it.

1. What Is 5G Technology
And How Must Businesses
Prepare For It?

2. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
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IntroductionIntroduction
In some circles, there's been much talk about 5G technology and its imminent
arrival. However, most individuals and companies haven't experienced it,
although there's a lot of work being done behind the scenes to build, trail, and
launch the infrastructure. When 5G does become widely available, we can
expect immense opportunities for the technology just like we have with the
launch of every generation of mobile networks. Here’s what 5G technology is
and how businesses should prepare for it.
What Is 5G Technology And How Must
Businesses Prepare For It?

3. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
What is 5G?
Called 5G, the fifth generation of mobile wireless communications promises to
lower latency, offer greater stability, the ability to connect many more devices at
once, and move more data thanks to faster speeds. These features have the
potential to supercharge business, and that's one of the reasons 66 percent of
businesses plan to deploy 5G by 2020, according to a study by Gartner.
Ultimately, 5G takes advantage of higher-frequency bands in the radio spectrum
that have a lot of capacity but shorter wavelengths. Cisco estimates that by
2020, 5G will generate three times more traffic than the average 4G connection,
and those connections will make up 3 percent of total mobile connections.

4. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
What is 5G?
Many industry experts believe that 5G networks alongside existing 4G LTE
networks will be 10 to 20 times faster than 4G when fully deployed in the real
world. Standalone 5G could reach gigabit-plus browsing speeds, making mobile
internet as fast, if not faster, than hardwired
fiber connections.

5. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Benefits of 5G
The first improvement most are excited about is the improved speed. Whereas
4G has download speeds typically 20Mbps, 5G is expected to reach 500 to 1500
Mbps—pretty much instant. Consumers might be impressed by being able to
download a movie from Netflix in seconds, but there are some very important
business applications this speed will make possible.
The world is already mobile. We will have 30 billion connected devices by 2020,
and with use cases for internet of things technology expected to keep growing,
our already congested spectrum bands are only going to get worse. This leads
to breakdowns in service that could be catastrophic when autonomous vehicles
are on the road or in some healthcare scenarios. Tapping into 5G technology
allows more capacity for multiple devices to be used at once in the same area (a
5G cell tower could handle a hundred more unique devices than a 4G one).

6. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Benefits of 5G
5G towers are significantly smaller (the size of a minifridge) and, therefore, can
be put in a variety of locations that would never have worked in the past. In
urban areas, that might mean 5G towers will be on every lamppost. Ultimately
improvement to coverage will depend on carriers expanding cell towers.
All four major U.S. carriers have rollouts of limited 5G wireless in use today, and
most countries likely won’t have launched 5G services before 2020. There is
quite a bit of action behind the scenes from regulators, wireless carriers, and
phone makers to get everything in place to make a 5G full-scale launch possible.
To see the progress, check out the
Race to 5G page.

7. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
How will 5G be used?
First, you will eventually need a 5G compatible phone; however, these phones
should be able to switch between 4G and 5G to find the most stable service.
Importantly, there will be more than faster Netflix downloads and 5G-
compatible phones, businesses will also benefit.
Not only will 5G be instrumental for many industries, including retail,
entertainment, automotive, manufacturing, and logistics, but it will also help
speed up tech advancements. These advancements will enable connected cars
and autonomous driving; smart cities with connected logistics, transport, and
infrastructure; enhancement in connected healthcare from robotics to
blockchain use cases to wearable telemetry; industrial internet of things and
smart factories; and the more extended use of augmented reality, virtual reality
and mixed reality.

8. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
5G will supercharge businesses
5G technology could help businesses increase efficiency, production, and
innovative breakthroughs as well as reduce costs. Unfortunately, Barclays'
polling found that only 28 percent of businesses understand 5G or the practical
business possibilities it could offer. In order to reap the benefits of 5G when it
gets launched, business leaders must:

9. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
5G will supercharge businesses
Budget for the investment: At least initially, 5G hardware will be more
expensive than 4G. It will be important to have 5G-ready equipment when
there’s a full-scale launch of the technology.
Plan for the new wave of automation and artificial intelligence: Since 5G
lowers latency, there will be changes to how businesses will rely on their
mobile networks. Businesses should work with engineers to re-think areas of
operations where machines can be automated, and machine
learning/artificial intelligence can be applied.
Fortify your big data analytics: Data will grow at an accelerated pace with the
growth of automation and artificial intelligence. Companies should ensure
they have the data analytics tools capable of gleaning insights from this data.

10. © 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
5G will supercharge businesses
5G education: Leaders and their employees need to understand what 5G is
and how it can support business goals. All need to be on the lookout for
ways 5G can positively impact the business.
Create a 5G strategy: 5G needs to be explored, and the process or product
changes that might be required or facilitated due to 5G need to be
considered.
Whether your business will see the impact of 5G in one or five years, it’s coming.
Businesses must prepare for the technology today in order to achieve the
performance improvements the technology offers.

11. © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2019 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

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