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2018 is the year in which carriers will begin launching 5G commercially in limited markets while at the same time they are broadly deploying a pathway to 5G services. In February, AT&T announced that Dallas, Atlanta and Waco would be among the first cities to experience the much-anticipated networks that will provide faster speeds, lower latency, higher endpoint densities, improved battery life and have a greater reach than before. As the excitement mounts, carriers have confirmed that trials are also running across Texas, California and New York. But wasn’t it just a few years ago when everyone was getting so excited about 4G? What’s changed, and why is everyone awaiting the arrival of 5G with such anticipation?

When 4G arrived, it offered us a more powerful way to interact with our mobile devices. We had faster email downloads, the capability to send high definition photos, a much more engaged social media experience and the ability to stream music. With 4G, iPads, other tablet devices and SIM-enabled PCs suddenly came into their own as they could now operate as well as, if not better than, when they were connected to Wi-Fi. Yet, 4G left us craving even more. It was official. We were addicted. So it’s unsurprising that almost as soon 4G had arrived, many of us were looking into the future for the next big step forward.

While the industry waits for 5G, 4G LTE networks are being upgraded to Gigabit LTE, which will work hand-in-hand with 5G. This approach will provide a relatively seamless customer experience as 5G moves into more widespread commercial availability over the next few years. When 5G arrives, it will include:

• 10x less latency (as little as 1ms) – for instant responsiveness
• 10x more throughput – for huge bandwidth improvements
• 10x more connection density – for more devices on a network without impacting speed & performance
• 3x spectrum, 100x network efficiency – significantly improved carrier economics enable affordable (think flat-rate) pricing

From an enterprise perspective, these metrics are important because they create a mobile network that will allow more businesses to ditch their wired-in networks. If you think about it, 4G LTE has already made this possible by offering Day-1 connectivity; just plug in a SIM and get started. That gives you phones, tablets and PCs; then internet access, card payment processing capabilities and Cloud-based SaaS options (including back-up, recovery and specialist software). If you’re a branch office, pop-up or mobile business, that has you pretty much covered and ready to go – and not a network cable in sight. The pathway to 5G’s capabilities should inspire businesses to look at a cable-free network and turn to cellular as a viable replacement for copper and even fiber in certain cases.

But there’s more to 5G than speed and ease of use. It’s not talked about all that much, but 5G also offers slower speeds with frequencies that travel farther from cell sites and into buildings. This means longer battery life for many devices, sometimes up to 10 years, and is achieved by using a lot less spectrum and less-complex encoding that is kinder to battery life.

5G’s improved connection density means that it will be a catalyst for even wider scale commercial use of IoT devices such as sensors, drones, autonomous vehicles and Analytics. To put this in context, Gartner suggests that there will be more 20 billion networked IoT devices in operation by 2020 – up from over 8 billion at the present time.

5G will, therefore, be responsible for a massive increase in data travelling across corporate networks – all of which will mean a requirement for more on-prem or Cloud storage, re-thought DR and BC strategies and a serious review of Data Management strategies.  This data will need to be collected, processed and analyzed – often in real time – in order for businesses to get the most benefit from the technology. Put simply, without 5G technology in place businesses won’t be able to build density of IoT devices they need (for example, on the factory floor or in retail outlets) to extract critical information and/or be able to collect, process and analyze the volume of data needed for to make intelligent, fast-paced decisions.

5G is set to impact our lives outside the office too. 4G was an enabling technology for kiosks, creating a retail outlet or public service without any staff. 5G, with its massively improved speed and bandwidth, could put human interaction at the heart of kiosk operations, allowing real-time conversation and interaction with a real person. This could be a local government service provider, retail outlet or, perhaps in its most effective use, a medical kiosk with a doctor literally on call. For telemedicine applications, kiosks could potentially be fitted with equipment that could check heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. The doctor at the other end of the line could then make an initial diagnosis.

Another 5G use case is with Augmented Reality, particularly when you consider the positive impact it could have on the effectiveness of first responders – and therefore on public safety and overall quality of life. Police officers can have AR helmets fitted with facial recognition to quickly spot criminals in a crowd or receive streamed security camera footage from crime scenes. Firefighters can have building plans projected onto their AR helmet screens to help navigate and locate trapped people even in low visibility. Ambulance and air rescue services can pull up patient data while en route or treating patients on site. The positive impact on our lives could be immense. And that’s before you think about how it could help regular people like you and me navigate our way around unfamiliar cities, how it could transform our retail and shopping experiences and how it could enrich our knowledge of the world around us as we walk through it (pointing out historical facts, interesting geology, famous landmarks or restaurants we might like to try – the possibilities are limitless).

Most of these devices are connected today with 4G routers. But 5G will enhance the delivery and analysis of all this information. While the industry waits for 5G, 4G LTE networks are being upgraded to create a smooth pathway to 5G. These advanced 4G services will work in a complementary fashion with emerging 5G technologies to optimally handle different types of applications and enable first responders, for example, to better execute their missions and protect the public with greater safety and efficiency than ever before.