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What 5G Means for the Internet of Things

Date
21 October 2019
Written by
Helayna Lowe

5G has already become a household name without it having even touched down yet. It is expected to be the driving force behind a number of technological advancements across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors, and according to an Ericsson survey, 92% of executives from 100 major telecom companies, globally, agree that 5G will pave the way for new emerging technologies. 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is already well-established, feeding into the daily fabric of our lives, but with the help of 5G, IoT is set to become ubiquitous. By 2020, Gartner speculate that 20.4 billion devices could be connected, a number that will continue to rise.

With 5G offering incredibly fast connection speeds and astonishing one millisecond latency, a HD film, for example, could be downloaded in a few seconds, and importantly, the network has the capacity for a hundred times more devices than the current 4G network does. 

So here are some areas that business should be looking at 5G to create market disruption.

Logistics

End to end logistics processes will be made more easy through the use of connected IoT tracking sensors. These sensors will have extremely high speed and low latency, which will make it possible to gather more data in real time and study energy effectiveness of the system. 

Furthermore, it will make it possible to see more data from varied sources throughout the supply chain. A consumer would have access to detailed information like where the fish she just bought was caught, what temperature was it stored in during transportation and when was it delivered to the retailer.

Retail

The rise of bricks and clicks retail means that 5G is set to play a large part of future retail experience. Retailers will shape customer engagement and experiences through mobile phones and other connected devices. 

Better connectivity and larger number of devices connected to the network will allow them to interact with shoppers faster with improved digital signage. Augmented and virtual reality will also play their part in shaping this future, helping to enhance the shopping experience.

Healthcare

Manually controlled devices in the field of medicine will go online, thanks to the precision afforded by 5G and IoT connectivity. Rural areas and other similar remote locations without proper healthcare facilities will hugely benefit from IoT connectivity. Ultimately, we’re heading towards a world where world-class surgery can be provided at low cost remotely. 

Those are just three ways that 5G could impact the IoT. If you’d like to learn more, get in touch with one of our consultants in the US here or our UK consultants here.

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