No doubt the fifth-generation (5G) cellular network is 10 times faster than 4G LTE. That means instead of waiting five minutes to download a movie in 4G, it will take just 30 seconds on 5G. Seriously, that’s awesome.
Imagine being able to download 5 movies in almost 3 minutes compared to the usual 30 minutes to 3 hours experienced in some African countries.
5G opens up the possibility for things like wireless Virtual Reality experiences and more reliable collaborations, and interconnected devices thanks to the ability to analyze and process data at faster speeds.
It’s a game changer for lovers of speed.
BUT ….
There’s a massive problem with 5G no one has been able to figure out.
5G uses a totally different wavelength than the 4G standard your phone currently uses.
5G uses millimeter waves, which are a lot shorter than the wavelengths 4G uses.
Looking at the big picture, shorter wavelength means 5G can carry a lot of data much faster than 4G. The downside of this is that 5G have a shorter range. 4G wavelengths have a range of about 10 miles. 5G wavelengths have a range of about 1,000 feet, not even 2% of 4G’s range.
How does this change the price of fish in the market? For every single traditional cell tower, we would need thousands of 5G towers. To get good signal, there needs to be 5G transmitters everywhere. We’re talking on every street pole(traffic light, lamps, etc.) because even trees can block 5G signals.
Putting up so many 5G transmitters will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Not to mention the regular maintenance costs for each of those 5G transmitters. Each transmitter requires laying down fiber optic cables. And we still have local governments, local communities to deal with.
Also, there are very few smartphones with 5G support. It’s estimated that 5G phones to cost you about $200 to $300 more than one without 5G. On topthe of that If you have 5G, it’ll likely send your internet subscription cost further up.
In Africa, we need a better cost effective solution. And we should be excited about this advanced technology that minimizes 5G.