Advancements in technology continue to help businesses grow. Mobile technology has enabled more connectivity and communication than ever before and over the last two decades, the speed and reliability of mobile networks have offered customers not just enabled better phone calls but better and more reliable access to the entire internet. Stronger access to these two forms of communication have enabled more businesses to not just grow their customer base, but for businesses themselves to exist (Snapchat and Uber, for instance, are platforms that were built on 4G technology and couldn’t exist in their current state without the existence of 4G technology.) So how is 5G set to improve and change things?
What is 5G?
In short, 5G refers to the technology that will enable the advancement of mobile connectivity post 4G technology. According to PC Mag, “5G stands for fifth-generation cellular wireless, and the initial standards for it were set at the end of 2017… most generations have technically been defined by their data transmission speeds, each has also been marked by a break in encoding methods, or “air interfaces,” that make it incompatible with the previous generation…and they are now scaling up to hundreds of megabits and even gigabit-level speeds. 5G brings three new aspects to the table: greater speed (to move more data), lower latency (to be more responsive), and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once (for sensors and smart devices).”
AT&T was the first mobile carrier to launch 5G, offering twelves cities across the US access to one mobile internet hot spot each on December 21, 2018. Verizon has started their 5G home services and some mobile accessibility, with Spring and T-Mobile planning their 5G integration and expansion.
As 5G technology becomes more readily available to individuals and businesses, it has the potential to massively accelerate business growth, including areas like hiring and revenue.
What is 5G technology and how can it help your business?
Here are some of the ways that 5G may be important to business growth in the coming years.
- Better IoT connectivity: One thing businesses are most excited about when it comes to 5G is a better Internet of Things (IoT) experience. Because of the ability of 5G to manage the connection of several things at once, both businesses and end users will be able to enjoy a more streamlined experience of their devices.
- Better buy-in of past technologies: Some business professionals believe that as more organizations adopt 5G, it will lead to other places having better access to 4G. A newer product or service usually costs more and what is being phased outcomes down in price. This tech change may lead to more accessibility through 4G for groups or places that previously had limited access, enabling businesses to reach even more people and places.
- Better VR experiences: If your business has a VR product or component, you’re in luck. 5G technology has the potential to offer a much more robust VR experience.
- Improved small business processes: Entrepreneurs are growth-minded and small businesses thrive on anything that will help give them an edge over their competition. A speedier, more reliable mobile connection means that businesses can get more done on the go and communicate with customers and clients faster.
- Improved workforce: 5G has the potential to improve the hiring process and the employee process. Better connectivity and internet speeds lead to better video calls and teleconference technology, which will support both more agile interview experiences but also better enable a flexible, remote workforce as the future of business.
The full rollout of 5G countrywide isn’t expected until at least 2020, but the benefits of this technology will likely take very little time to be seen by the businesses using it.
