We’re talking about it

As already showcased last week by Adeleh Mojtahed, 5G remains in the news spotlight.

In Switzerland, people are becoming more and more concerned about the general impact on living creatures particularly pets and humans. Several groups are pressing telecom companies and the government for a moratorium on 5G rollout.

On the other hand, companies are promising new services and extraordinary speeds with 5G technology. They also intimate that 5G will provide greater network coverage.

In order to understand the reason for choosing this technology, we have to take a step back and understand what it offers, and at what price.

 

5G? Ok. What about the first four?

A bit of history first? Until 4G (fourth generation), network technology was non IP (you could not use services through internet protocols).

Even if the 2.5G (let’s say an update of the 2G) and the 3G were designed to support data transmission and, specifically in the case of the latter, to respond to the need for higher data flow, these technologies still lacked internet protocols.

With the 4G introducing IP-based packets, devices in such networks could communicate in the same way as a computer over the Internet. The doors of mobile services, opened with the deployment of the 3G, were then broadened by 4G.

With the arrival of 5G, a new world of services can be offered by the providers. The notion of activity (from low to very active) has arisen, developing the idea that actors and services in 5G can be categorized (see graphic below).

 

The price

As stated before, this new technology has a cost. To be more precise, it has a price.

Firstly, there are fears that 5G could affect people’s health.

In terms of hardware architecture, there will be a need to change the end-user device (for those who surf at the edge of the technology), but also because it requires the setup of new powerful antennas. This is what worries some people.

In terms of a global culture, people want to be more connected, to be able to share more, to have greater online access, and to measure everything.

You couldn’t resist it in the end? A mistake, I fancy. It gets under your skin, [the internet of things]. Speaking metaphorically, of course. And you see, the more you struggle for every [connected] thing, the more [connected] you stay… which is where I come in, as a matter of fact.

Is it then worth asking a final question: is this price too high?

 

References:

• A 5G, UNE SOCIÉTÉ HYPER-CONNECTÉE !, Adeleh Mojtahed, 03.2019
• La Corée du Sud, première à proposer la 5G, Tribune de Genève, 03.04.2019
• Cinq inquiétudes au sujet de la 5G, Tribune de Genève, 01.04.2019
• 5G : tout ce qu’il faut savoir sur le réseau du futur, Romain Vitt, 02.2019
• 5G, ETSI
• ITU global standard for international mobile telecommunications ‘IMT-Advanced’
• 4G Wireless and International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) Advanced, Madhuri Kulkarni, 04.2008
• Pétition contre la 5G et ses dangers, Marvin Grimm, 03.2019
• 5G, tous grillés?, Infrarouge (RTS), 27.03.2019

Photo credit: unsplash by jslate01