How will 5G impact the radio industry?

5G. It’s mobile networking that’s faster, supports more devices per region, and gives real-time comms. And it’s here already.

2019 saw the launch of 5G throughout various regions across the world – and 5G speeds are already 10 times faster than 4G speeds, with this set to grow as the technology rollout continues.

This new networking tech is poised to impact some industries in particular, so let’s take a glance:

Radio and streaming podcasts

4G isn’t always as reliable as we would like it to be. If you’ve ever encountered buffering or cuts when you’re listening to podcasts, then you will know the pain. Sometimes you just give up in the end: you’ve lost interest in the tunes they were playing; you’ve forgotten what they were talking about in the podcast, or you’ve started doing something else that’s grabbed your attention instead.

The other awesome news is that 5G is set to see us able to stream audio in high resolutionformat – the sound quality we’d hear from a CD, as opposed to the compressed format we usually hear.

IoT

The density ratio of connected devices per square kilometre that 5G allows is astronomical. That this coincides with the explosion of IoT devices in the marketplace is no coincidence!

More homes are gaining IoT devices like speakers, hubs, lighting, sprinkler systems, fridges, pet feeders, vacuum cleaners, and even “personal” toys. Over on the business side, businesses are embracing IoT security systems, lighting and airflow systems, employee clock in and clock out systems, etc. The more these devices pervade, the handier 5G is, as it can take the connection load that 4G is not built for.

Healthcare

As home and office IoT devices are increasing in diversity of uses, so too are medical IoT devices. In fact, the fields of both medtech, that is IoT devices in the field (for example hospitals, practitioners offices), and the broader healthtech (consumer devices), are taking off.

IoT devices give us the opportunity to monitor health like never before, with real-time analytics to help inform opinions.

With hospitals, this can mean that doctors and nurses time is freed up to perform other tasks apart from monitoring and checking patients’ health.

Mobile gaming

Online gaming is huge – whether it’s player in MMORPGs, online casino gambling, or little casual games. And while some games offer smooth play on mobile, it’s usually a trade-off with resolution and/or graphic quality.

5G is set to change all that – it will change what games we play and how we play them. You can now expect brilliant graphics without lag when playing on mobile – if the developer knows how to do it of course! Development houses will need to up the ante to grab players, and we may just see the market explode more than ever before.

Retail

While AR has been around for some time, it has been more of a novel experience, and oftentimes slow or laggy – if you have ever tried playing Pokemon Go then you will know what we’re talking about here. While there have been a few novel uses of AR for retail, such as pulling up an ingredients list from scanning a food item sign, these have not proliferated in the space – yet. As the in-store experience becomes more important to keeping brick-and-mortar retailers in business, 5G will allow AR to be a smooth experience in-store. Think things like trying on an outfit virtually by scanning an item and then using your selfie camera to see what it would look like.

Smart cities

One of the oft-cited examples of what 5G will impact is smart cities, and in particular, the relationship between smart cities and smart vehicles. With a relationship between the smart city and a fleet of vehicles, we can automatically find the best parking spot for a vehicle. We can automatically reroute traffic in the case of an accident. We can indicate to passengers to share rides due to heavy traffic flows. We can choose the optimal route for a car to take based on AI. 

5G is set to be a great tech for many industries to utilise. It’s not just faster internet for our phones to download a movie super quick; it’s the key to a more informed way of living.