Many people thought 2020 was going to be the year that 5G came into its own – and then it wasn’t. Although it’s had a slower start than hoped (and for very good reasons!), the mass rollout of fifth-generation mobile network technology is just around the corner.
5G promises lightning-fast speeds and low latency. It’s effectively high-speed broadband with no cables – offering seamless, real-time connectivity.
As 5G becomes more common, we will increasingly begin to expect the same experience at home, in the workplace and when we’re out and about. Businesses will move increasingly to a mobile-first approach to give customers and employees more flexibility.
Here’s why we believe 2021 is the year 5G finally lives up to its promise.
We all need more bandwidth
The growth in the number of people working from home during the pandemic, combined with homeschooling, has created a situation where a lot more traffic is being generated and demand for a better network experience. Even when things go back to some kind of normal, it’s widely expected that many businesses, having seen benefits in working from home, will continue to use the model – or perhaps a blend of home and workplace working.
5G is the answer to those strained home broadband connections. It has a bandwidth far higher than the networks which came before it, meaning more data can be transferred between devices. Potentially, that means no more stuttering Zoom calls as everyone battles for network space.
It also means teams can upload and download larger amounts of content such as photos or videos and send them with ease – crucial as more and more businesses work in the cloud.
Because of how portable it is, 5G will bring connectivity to regions that have previously been poorly-served by broadband, helping to get businesses in those areas up to speed with remote working and digital transformation.
And if homeworking sticks around for a while longer, enhanced mobile broadband can introduce new possibilities for meetings in augmented and virtual reality – potentially enabling productive sessions using technology which helps you feel as though you’re all in the same room.
We have the devices to make the most of it
For a while, 5G service was there but only a limited number of devices supported it. Now, with the launch of 5G-equipped giants such as Apple’s iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S21 series, it’s gone mainstream.
The iPhone offers incredible HDR video – and thanks to 5G, you’ll have the network capacity to easily share the resulting video files with colleagues.
Samsung is leading the 5G revolution with the widest range of 5G devices on the market. The Samsung S21 range works smoothly and consistently with collaboration platforms like Teams and WebEx. It even has Microsoft apps built in as standard, giving users instant access to emails, contacts and calendars. And with apps like Word, Excel and Outlook running on a phone, users can multitask like a pro wherever they happen to be.
The Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G is not a smartphone as we know it, it is a computer in your pocket. It’s available now, and for users that want to get maximum productivity out of a smartphone with a single giant display, it’s ideal.
It’s not just about the top of the range now – 5G is increasingly available at all levels. Samsung has announced a trio of new budget devices headed to the UK, including the recently announced Galaxy A32 5G, their most affordable 5G device yet.
To find out more about our Samsung solutions, speak to one of our experts.
We’re getting more 5G-enabled gadgets
It’s not just smartphones that are being rolled out by the tech giants. Laptops have become smarter, sleeker and more portable in recent years and now with the addition of 5G, they’re even better.
A number of manufacturers have announced new, razor-thin, incredibly powerful 5G-enabled laptops. Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 range now comes with the speed you need. HP is also getting in on the action, with the HP Elite Dragonfly range bringing in not one, but two 5G capable models across its 2021 range.
It saves time and money
With increased reliability and network capacity, 5G will free up more time and money for businesses. It allows for improved productivity because less time is lost to unreliable networks.
It can also increase productivity and introduce cost savings by enabling the use of automated tasks and IoT business solutions (Internet of Things) which can carry out some tasks that were previously costly and time consuming.
In 2021 5G should help businesses get better connected, much more quickly. It won’t be long until all businesses can begin to look at how they can develop strategies for the implementation of this game-changing technology.
At Onecom we have a range of 5G business broadband solutions available – to find out more, contact our team today.
