What Is 5G, How Fast will It be, and When will 5G be available?

What is 5G?

Eventually the world moved on to 3G, which gave people the ability to make phone calls, send text messages, and browse the internet. 4G enhanced many of the capabilities that were made possible with the third generation of wireless. People could browse the web, send text messages, and make phone calls—and they could even download and upload large video files without any issues.

5G will build on the foundation created by 4G LTE. It’s going to allow people send texts, make calls, and browse the web as always—and it will dramatically increase the speed at which data is transferred across the network. 5G will make it easier for people to download and upload Ultra HD and 3D video. It will also make room for the thousands of internet-connected devices entering our everyday world. Just imagine upgrading your data connection from a garden hose to a fire hose. The difference will be noticeable.


Is 5G faster than 4G?

Yes. Speeds will be significantly faster. Currently, 4G LTE transfer speeds top out at about one gigabit per second. The problem is, people rarely experience 4G’s maximum download speed speed because the signal can be disrupted by so many different things: buildings, microwaves, other wifi signals. The list goes on and on.

5G will increase download speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. That means a full HD movie can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. It will also reduce latency significantly (giving people faster load times). In short, it will give wireless broadband the capacity it needs to power thousands of connected devices that will reach our homes and workplaces.


How does it work?

There are already huge consortiums of major global telecoms working to create worldwide standards around 5G. Although most of those standards haven’t been solidified, experts expect it to be backwards compatible (with 4G and 3G) in addition to having some interoperability across the world.


When will 5G be available?

It’s already available in some test locations around the United States.

Most experts predict that 5G won’t be widely available until 2020.

But it will be well worth the wait. If there’s anything that everyone can agree on, it’s that speedy internet is a necessity in this day and age. And the importance of a quick connection is only going to increase. If we’re going to realize a vision of the future with billions of connected devices, then blazing fast internet is going to become a basic necessity—and 5G will help us get there.