The first projects and trials of the new 5G data infrastructure are already underway, one of the main trends 2018–2019. The challenge is to be able to better seize the opportunities of a market that is estimated to exceed 250 billion dollars in 5 years, and can contribute to the acceleration of industrial and business processes, above all in terms of IoT and Artificial Intelligence.
According to analysts, in fact, albeit with a medium-long time frame, the fifth generation of mobile technologies will be the main asset through which to give life to that hyper-connected world long promised by the IoT. The transition to 5G represents much more than a simple technological evolution, will lead to socio-economic transformations through productivity, sustainability and well-being and will redefine the role of furniture in modern society.
5G: dimensions of the global market and technological challenges
According to a Netscribes research, 4G LTE — Long Term Evolution mobile — will dominate in terms of volume for the next few years but the global 5G market is expected to grow at a staggering rate, with an average annual rate of around 97% on a period of five years, up to a value of 251 billion dollars by 2025.
A similar growth will be driven mainly by the power of broadband and, therefore, by the speed of data transmission: today a 4G infrastructure can support data transfer speeds of up to 100 Mbps in download and 50 Mbps upload while with the 5G you can reach speeds from 10 to 50 Gbps with network latency and response times reduced to 1 millisecond.
A similar promise, however, passes through non-trivial challenges such as the adaptation of infrastructures and mobile devices, but also the development of digital applications and services.
From the point of view of the infrastructure 5G technology is not a linear evolution of the 4G and LTE mobile network but a real change of access / connection system with higher bandwidth, better performance and reduced consumption. To get a rough idea of the power of 5G, just think that it will have to meet the following technical requirements:
- very low latency (even less than 1ms);
- throughput, or the actual data transmission capacity (10–20 Gbps of peak);
- availability (99.9999%);
- connectivity density (up to 1 million devices per Km2);
- high speed (up to 500 km/h);
- spectral efficiency (30 bit/s/Hz), i.e. that, unlike previous mobile network architectures, 5G will not be put into operation on specific bands but will have to support connectivity over the whole frequency spectrum (a feature that will guarantee digital services that have very different requirements but can rely on a single connectivity infrastructure).
5G technologies will therefore see very wide applications in Internet services, multimedia services, voice calls through Internet Protocol (VOIP), online gaming, video streaming up to “data intensive” applications such as those based on Virtual and Augmented Reality, Big Data Analytics , Artificial Intelligence, IoT, robotics and 3D printing.
A revolution that could generate a global economic impact of 3.3 trillion dollars by 2026, reports Ericsson in his latest Mobility Report, above all by virtue of mobile traffic generated by applications focused on file sharing, web browsing, downloading of software and applications, digital audio services, social networking applications and services and, most of all, video applications (within which are included the services of video streaming, TV on demand, virtual reality services and augmented).
5G: first experiments in Europe and beyond
Just a couple of months ago, Europe put 200 million investments on the plate for the exploitation of 5G networks in the field of self-driving cars and in sectors such as health and media entertainment. In Brussels they were very clear in defining the objectives:
- by 2020 every single member state of the Union must have 5G-based services in at least one of its large cities;
- by 2025 all the large urban areas and the most important transport infrastructures and urban arteries will have to rely on the 5G connection.
To date, experiments in this regard are already active in countries such as Sweden, Holland, England and Italy.
Sweden and the first 5G experimental projects
Experimentation has already started in Stockholm for both self-driving trucks and city buses. For now, the project involves only a small urban stretch north of the city, with mini buses that host 12 passengers at a time on a pre-recorded route where vehicles move using Gps and other sensors (proximity, visual recognition, etc.) that share data on 5G networks.
The 5G arrives in Holland
In Amsterdam, they are developing a unique system of connectivity and traffic control through which to regulate and optimize the flows of people and vehicles; for now the system “travels” on a 4G network but the transition to fifth generation infrastructures will be the decisive step to extend the experimentation throughout the country.
In England the government allocates 25 million pounds in 5G projects
In Liverpool, pilot projects are more oriented towards the world of social assistance and health (for which 3.5 billion pounds have been invested — through a tender won by Sensor City — compared to 25 million pounds put available from two local and regional government agencies): the 5G network allows to use virtual and augmented mobile applications for remote health care or for the improvement of social services for elderly or lonely people.
Italy and 5G: the first experiments start
In Italy the experiments involve Milan, Rome, Matera, Bari, Prato, L’Aquila and Turin. In Rome, the focus is linked to the world of tourism: the project involves the use of virtual reality in some archaeological sites, museums and places of art and culture to enrich the experience of visitors and tourists, also aiming to show sites and places that are no longer accessible or destroyed.
In Prato, however, it will be the cinema to enjoy the potential of 5G with the creation of a 3D animated film shot entirely with the support of these technological infrastructures (to work on the project is Enzo D’Alò, the director of “La Gabbianella and the Cat”).
The 5G and the World Cup in Russia
The soccer world championships that are taking place in Russia since 14 June represent the ideal occasion for the first taste of 5G in the entertainment and media world, in particular in the use of VAR with real-time data transmission and on the plan of security where the 5G represents the infrastructural basis of video surveillance systems with facial recognition.
The Winter Olympics, between virtual and augmented reality, were traveling “on 5G”
The first major public demonstration of the power of the 5G took place in February 2018 in South Korea, at PyeongChang, on the occasion of the 23rd edition of the Winter Olympic Games.
Did you know that in the past the Olympic Games represented the launch pad for some of the most common technologies today? Some examples:
- Berlin 1936, first television broadcasts;
- Tokyo 1964, first tests of satellite video transmissions;
- Los Angeles 1984, technical tests for the launch of fiber optic connectivity.
Thanks to the 5G infrastructures and new mobile devices specifically designed to connect through these new networks, at PyeongChang spectators, fans, fans and athletes were able to experience the events and sports performances in a completely new way, with an immersive user experience thanks to streaming video 360 degrees, virtual and augmented reality. Mobile applications and simple viewers such as low-cost (or even free, sponsored) car-rental cars have allowed people to experience the event and individual competitions from different viewing points, in ultra HD format, using additional content on athletes and brand.
A similar experience had already been tested during the UEFA Champions League final last year: the fans were given away with the Google Cardboard VR viewers (sold out in record time) to watch on YouTube or through the BT Sport VR app the match in direct (shooting with 360 ° cameras in live streaming on YouTube and on the BT app). Fans had the possibility to choose between 8 different locations (to change the visual and perspective) and to use ad hoc content in real time (comments and graphics proposed to fans during the use of the video).
5G: towards a “Networked Society”
Being a real change of system of access and connection with higher bandwidth compared to 4G, the implementation of 5G will require the joint efforts of the players in each sector to express their innovation and create favorable conditions for the entry of new ones entering the market.
The potential of this technology will be exploited transversely in many areas starting from automotive and smart home, offering new communication channels and new development opportunities to companies with the aim of improving the production process also thanks to machine learning, robotics and IoT platforms.
In the next few years, 5G, enabler of the interconnection between billions of devices (Ericsson estimates that in 2023, the number of 5G mobile network users will exceed one billion with more than 20 billion IoT devices connected to the network), will open the way for an offer of services and connectivity more and more integrated between fixed and mobile and will enable the birth of the smart city: a hyper-connected company with mobile to play an increasingly leading role and a personal broadband, a service therefore no longer associated with the place where one finds a person but the person himself.
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