Matt Dykes, COO, Abzorb
There has been a lot of noise recently about AI but the real game changing technology that will revolutionise services and industries is 5G standalone that will deliver faster speeds, lower latency, and increase reliability ensuring we are always connected.
The UK Government has invested £48m to boost 5G take up and connect remote homes and businesses with a pioneering satellite connectivity programme. Stating that the wireless Infrastructure Strategy will ensure everyone, no matter where they live, can reap the benefits of improved connectivity by 2030.
In the last few weeks Vodafone announced the news of its merger with Three and the combined business will invest £11bn in the UK over 10 years to create one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks. Creating jobs and supporting digital transformation with every school and hospital having access to 5G by 2030.
Although 77% of the UK population are already on 5G they are on a non-standalone network which means that it cannot ‘stand-alone’ on its own network and is deployed on top of an existing 4G LTE network. Whereas a standalone 5G is not reliant on older mobile generations and is designed to support 5G services, so it’s more beneficial to businesses and public sector organisations and improves efficiencies for communications and services.
Savings Everywhere
Vodafone recently conducted a study with WPI Economics who revealed that 5G could be used to deliver remote health check-ups and real time monitoring through the IOT which will massively reduce the need for GP’s and hospital appointments. They have estimated that this could potentially save the NHS £1 billion a year which is the equivalent of 15,400 new full time nursing positions. Other services where efficiencies and cost-savings could be made are the trains and railways where sensors could predict delays and cancellations saving passengers time worth £326 million in productivity and well-being.
The list goes on and businesses and organisations could save millions and billions of pounds and hours. 5G will continue to revolutionise our daily lives and industries and the only thing holding it back is our imaginations. The possibilities are endless, and businesses need to get creative and think how and where 5G could be used. AI is starting to encroach into our lives but the 5G network will be the one that makes more of an immediate impact to our daily personal and work lives.
Accelerate Decision Making
Businesses and organisations can utilise the super-fast data transfer speeds and lower latency that will enable them to view real time data and analytics making processes more efficient and effective and resulting in more intelligent and faster decisions being made.
Remote and Hybrid Working
With 44% of people working remotely in the UK (ons) it will provide a faster, more robust and reliant network for people to be connected to communicate and collaborate with each other using mobiles and conferencing and collaboration solutions. This is essential for people who live in remote and rural areas with poor broadband or for those to utilise when broadband fails.
Improving the Customer Experience
Businesses can improve the customer experience because more shoppers use online banking and shopping than ever. The 5G standalone network will hugely improve the ecommerce experience from real time stock checks, to ordering and payments.
For public sector services citizens can have medical remote consultations, students can utilise online learning platforms and experience immersive lessons using VR and tailored personally for them and remote court hearing etc.
Slicing and Dicing
Businesses and public sector organisations can create private multiple virtual networks within a single physical network that enables them to customise their networks for a specific service or offering. This provides them with the ability to manage data traffic securely and prioritise traffic on the individual networks, scale and down according to the volume of traffic, giving them more flexibility and options to manage their network. This would be beneficial for the emergency services, finance, or the health sector and many more industries.
Smart Service for Smart Cities
The IOT will come to fruition with 5G making the impossible possible and the ability to support widespread use of connected devices for streamlining traffic management, environmental monitoring, and emergency services. Therefore, making cities a safer and enjoyable place to live.
The Sky is the Limit
5G standalone will revolutionise the way we live and work, and transform business and public sector services saving costs, time, and improving services and increasing efficiencies. The sky is the limit and it is down to us to make the impossible possible.
