VIVA NOLA February 2019

TECH TALK
5g technology
b y t h e i . t . g u y
14
The year 2019 brings with it lots of new
technology, and perhaps the most exciting
development is advent of 5G networks. Everything
that we have known until now is about to change
because 5G provides us with blazing speeds on
our mobile devices, which will not only enable us
to do a variety of things in real time but will also
dramatically decrease content buffering and
network lag. So, what does ?5G? exactly mean?
Every ?G? represents a different aspect of
connectivity:
1 G v o i c e
2 G T e x t me s s a g e s
3 G I n t e r n e t
4 G L T E - F a s t e r i n t e r n e t
5 G wi l l g i v e u n p r e c e d e n t e d
s p e e d s o f 1 0 0 g b p s +
This speed is so fast that it will allow us to use
virtual reality in real time, which means someone
could be controlling a device from across the
globe. This could be used during a medical
procedure, to drive a car remotely, or to fly
airplanes. The downside of 5G is that its frequency
(millimeter wave) is much shorter, so more
transmitter antennas would need to be deployed
throughout cities.
Deployment of 5G has been in the works for some
time now and it has started in select cities,
including, since last December, Houston, Dallas,
Atlanta, Waco, and San Antonio in Texas,
Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, Jacksonville, Florida, Louisville,
Kentucky, New Orleans, Louisiana, and
Indianapolis, Indiana.
The infrastructure of 5G is extremely costly as it is
brand-new technology and it requires new
transmitters and antennas; existing legacy
transmitters cannot be upgraded. National
availability of 5G is expected by March 2020.
Network abilities attained with 5G connectivity
would also allow new technology to emerge and
will provide a better internet experience for users.