EE intends to be the first operator to initiate a live trail of 5G technology at London’s Tech City in October. In total, 10 5G sites will be trialled around London’s Tech City, where five businesses and five homes will have the chance to get connected using new technology such as prototype 5G broadband devices.
The aim of the 5G trial is to provide the highest speed mobile data connections, including in some of the most densely populated urban environments. To find participants for the UK’s first ever 5G trial, EE will be using social media.
“We want the UK to be a global leader in 5G as part of our ambition to create a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone.” Minister for Digital Margot James
Not only will the trial benefit EE as a network but alongside the Government’s test beds and programmes, these initiatives combined should ensure the UK is at the forefront of 5G technology and will help deliver the benefits of this new revolutionary technology to businesses and consumers across the nation.
What’s so special about 5G?
5G will be the fifth generation of mobile network, and is expected to dramatically out-do the performance of the current 3G and 4G networks.
“Ericsson predict that 5G’s latency will be around one millisecond – un-perceivable to a human and about 50 times faster than 4G.”
5G is expected to be capable of delivering extremely fast data with estimates between 10 – 50 Gbit/s compared with today’s average 4G download speed of 15 Mbit/s. In fact, back in 2013 Samsung tested 5G at 1Gbps and journalists reported that a HD movie could be downloaded in less than 30 seconds. Fast track to 2014 and Samsung set a mobile speed record of 7.5Gb/s in another 5G trail, while estimates predict the speed will reach 10Gb/s, with transfer rates as high as 800Gb/s further down the line, taking your download time of a full length film to around a second!
While the use of a very high frequency spectrum, above 6 GHz, could support a variety of uses including financial trading, gaming and entertainment, holographic projections, and the potential to support very high demands users in busy areas such as city centres. It’s also predicted that the new 5G network shouldn’t break, offering you the same reliability that you currently receive from fibre connections.