5G: Why is everyone talking about it?

Most of us remember the excitement when 3G came to the market. Mobile users on 2G network slowly migrated to 3G, and everyone was amazed at the increased speed. Now a similar excitement has formed around 5G. Is it actually worth paying extra or just another version of 3G? Let’s find out.  

What is the 5G cellular network?  
5G is the next generation of wireless access technology. Apart from the usual promise of higher data capacity and speeds faster than 10 GB per second, the nature of the connection would also be changing. It is being advertised that 5G would have the capacity to connect billions of devices on an industrial scale, and more than 7 household devices. The industrial capability of 5G is expected to support a range of industries such as transport, healthcare and logistics.  

What are the key features of 5G? 
The most talked-about feature is a dramatic increase in network speed for consumers. This means mobile networks would be able to pull along applications that do not work on 3G. If this is true, it would mean a significant difference from 3G, and buying a 5G device would be worth the money. Software that we can use only on WiFi now are supposed to function smoothly on 5G.  

How will 5G impact education and everyday life? 
Ambitious claims are being made about 5G, including a possibility that it might be able to support even remote robotic surgeries.  

But coming down to more grounded benefits, 5G would definitely impact education, especially for students depending on online studies from remote areas of our country. They would be able to access many more apps, work with others real-time, avail live sessions with ease, and access virtual labs, which right now is a privilege open only to students on high-speed connections.  

Online shopping and financial transactions would also become much easier, a move well-timed to support digital currency.  

Entertainment would change further. It seems 5G would be able to offer speeds on 300 Mbps and above. For people on 3 to 10 Mbps connections now, the speed could mean an entirely changed lifestyle with greater access to everything from web channels to healthcare.