5G is the latest generation of cellular connectivity and is ultimately likely to be the most transformational for economies and societies around the world. Whereas 3G and 4G were predominantly built to improve speed and bandwidth, 5G will deliver benefits that will enable a multitude of new use cases in the world of IoT.
5G signals have a short range compared to 2G, 3G, 4G and cellular LPWAN technologies, meaning more masts are needed so coverage is currently focused around major cities. However, global 5G deployments are accelerating with countries such as China and South Korea leading the charge. The GSMA forecast that 40% of the world’s population will have coverage by 2025.
5G networks are being built to supplement 4G networks (which are not going anywhere) and provide an enhanced platform to support the growth in critical communication services across the globe. With initial 5G focus on the consumer offering, it is only recently that we have seen operators focus on M2M and IoT capabilities.