In partnership with BT, 5G is now available for all of Transatel’s UK MVNO partners. An MVNO targeting the UK market will have 5G turned on by default for all new activations made on their account.
5G, a revolution gaining momentum
The benefits of wireless broadband connectivity are no longer in question. When 3G and then 4G first came on the scene, the world of mobile telephony (and its use cases) underwent major changes.
Today, cellular connectivity is not only for making calls, sending text messages, or using the Internet on your mobile phone. We often forget that it also allows communication between objects. This “machine-to-machine” (M2M) communication is used to control these objects remotely or to collect data and transmit it to the Cloud without any human intervention needed.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer a huge mystery for operators, some of whom also offer M2M SIM (or eSIM) cards, as well as their mobile phone SIM cards. However, faced with the high increase in consumer and professional connected objects and the exponential increase in data consumption, the 3G and 4G networks have reached their limits. The telecommunications sector, therefore, needed to adapt and evolve.
According to Ofcom, 5G now offers much higher speeds, 10 to 50 Gbit/s, and lower latency, meaning a better overall user experience compared to 4G. Today the average speed can go up to 15 Mbit/s. The use cases are already plentiful: big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, but also smart cities, autonomous vehicles, video recognition, PCs and tablets that are always connected, private networks in factories, and many more. 5G is also proving to be a more reliable and secure alternative to Wi-Fi.
Whilst there are a lot of talks today about private 5G for industrial or medical uses, mobile telephony still holds a prominent position within the market. Subscribers with a 5G device and using the 5G network will benefit from much higher speeds than 4G+, ranging from 1Gbps to a projected 20Gbps in a few years’ time. The main attraction of 5G is a simple one: no more buffering. You’ll be able to download files, listen to music, stream your videos, and join in online conference calls with dozens of people… all at the same time. All this without interruption, lagging, or a compromise in the quality of your experience.
So, is this all just a bit of marketing?
We’ve heard it before, 5G is in fact just a marketing ploy to boost sales and encourage people to replace their current mobile phones. Do subscribers really need 1Gbps speeds when 4G+ speeds are largely enough to allow them to watch videos and listen to music without any issues? If 5G doesn’t provide more functionalities than 4G+, then what’s the point?
This is a relevant question; but within a few years, 5G will shape our daily lives in an increasingly connected world, where data is everywhere. It will allow autonomous cars to stop when you cross the street, thanks to the geolocation of your 5G phone. According to some sources, it will use information from our smart watches and connected medical devices for personalized patient monitoring. Finally, 5G is playing its part in the green sustainability scheme that targets carbon neutrality by 2050, an important pull for eco-friendly businesses.
Of course, 5G has not yet reached full maturity in terms of its use-cases. Its main value lies in the role of a follow-up to 4G+, with speeds that are ten times faster, which allow for a smooth user experience when streaming videos or playing games online.
So yes, today 5G is mostly about creating a buzz, but that should be seen as a positive. The availability of this new technology in the world of mobile telephony sets it up as the next big thing that will be a disruptor in our daily lives. MNO and MVNO operators, therefore, have a responsibility to make their subscribers aware of emerging technologies, to prepare the market for future applications.
To learn more about our 5G service, you can read our frequently asked questions on Transatel’s Knowledge Center.