What is 5G?

Mobile technology has come a long way

The evolution of mobile telecommunications has come a long way over a relatively short period of time. Originally, mobile technology was aimed at supporting person-to-person communications. Supported by rudimentary infrastructure and devices, this was effective until the need for messaging, roaming, and data started to exert pressure on the industry to develop platforms designed to handle these new applications and the use cases they enable.

These use cases moved the industry from 2G thru 3G and into the 4G platform where machine-to-machine or as we often refer to it now, Internet of Things (IoT), really started to take off. The growth of more sophisticated devices supporting an ever-demanding subscriber base of mobile users and applications continues to drive the industry to newer technologies like 5G.

New technologies, better support, new use cases

The progression of mobile technologies from 1G to 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G has opened the doors to a plethora of new use cases that benefit directly from the expanded capabilities of each generation. For example, from 2G to 4G allowed for simultaneous voice and data solutions, along with greater download speeds promoting the use of streaming apps.

The advent of 5G offers extended capabilities around bandwidth, speed, capacity, and latency reduction. Paired with the ability to connect huge numbers of IoT devices in densely packed areas, IoT use cases have grown significantly.

5G is not only about connecting people

With its ability to handle a massive number of devices, 5G is showing its ability to address the data needs of verticals such as manufacturing, automotive, and agriculture. There are also verticals that require low latency with increased speeds to guarantee fast connections such as smart utilities and healthcare. Critical communications demand a much faster response and increased quality of service and security which can also be addressed with 5G.

Find out more

In the linked tech talk video, I briefly introduce the technology of 5G and its advancement as the next-generation mobile platform that will support the growing needs of both subscribers and businesses. In later talks, I will introduce more specifics around products and solutions that Syniverse provides to help both mobile network operators and businesses benefit from 5G.

As Vice President of Product Management at Syniverse, Mike is passionate about serving the customer, believing that every enterprise should strive to add value and success to their customer’s business, no matter the industry. He encourages those around him to understand the issues and challenges that face their customers, as that is the key to providing the best solutions to drive their success, and offers that this can be achieved by listening first, then educating, advising and collaborating.

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