Rise of 5G: Advent of New Era in Telecommunication

 The world is getting ready for the next-gen technology and so is India. 5G network is set to deliver faster and more reliable communications. They will open doors to exciting new connections to Internet of Things networks, autonomous driving, broadband fixed wireless, and faster video viewing.

What is 5G? 5G is the fifth generation of cellular mobile communications and will succeed the 4G, 3G and 2G systems. 5G performance targets high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and massive device connectivity. To deliver the right 5G, it takes end-to-end Layer 1–7 test, precision measurement, and deep network visibility solutions, which will de-risk 5G development and operation across the ecosystem.

India is eager to embrace the technology and adapt to the latest offerings by 5G. 5G will have societal value as well as business value. 5G will connect people to everything and will make it the next frontier in machine-to-machine communication. Also, by leveraging new and existing technologies including wider bandwidths in millimeter-wave frequencies, massive MIMO and virtualized networks, 5G will deliver a multitude of benefits to meet customer demand across a wide range of vertical industries.

A recent survey done by Keysight in 2018 on 5G shows that more than half (54 percent) of companies which were surveyed have already adopted the 5G technologies with 46 percent citing securing market leadership early in the 5G lifecycle as the primary driver for their investments.

Also, more than two-thirds of respondents said they are actively seeking 5G test solutions to accelerate the development or rollout out of 5G technology. Most respondents (63 percent) of this 2018 survey expect higher reliability and lower latency to create the biggest impact from 5G technology. These aspects are important to address new business opportunities. Respondents also indicated that the top three benefits of implementing 5G technology are faster networks, greater IoT enablement, and connected car proliferation.

With benefits comes the downside also. 5G has been grabbing the attention not only for the new wave of technology but also for the crippling challenges it has been facing since inception. The investment? Regarding investments for 5G connectivity, the industry reports shows that the investment for 5G would grow incrementally as compared to the existing 4G/LTE technology, with 5G spectrum and network densification needs, it is anticipated that industry might require an additional investment of $60-$70 billion to seamlessly implement 5G networks.

We also need to pay attention to the security side for the consumers. Going forward, 5G network has to ensure security and privacy for end users. Since the number of devices connected to network will double, ensuring security is a challenging task. End-to-end encryption technique needs to be developed to securely communicate between devices and cloud application servers. So, why is it so important to test 5G before it is launched?

Well, the network needs to secure an optimized user experience for all the verticals. Since very soon 5G will be the answer to all telecommunications query, there needs to be transparency and credibility attached to it. For the same a multi-layer spectrum approach is needed to adequately address a wide range of scenarios and requirements and also to accommodate legacy technologies.

Since the usage will be different for different individuals, 5G needs to pass the test and cover all the dimensions. Keysight has done the first market end-to-end 5G test solutions, which has helped the mobile ecosystem verify the quality, performance, compliance and security of new designs across the protocol stack. These solutions are already empowering leading mobile operators.

The Indian telecom industry is going through interesting times. As it starts to take initial steps toward the 5G, the way ahead will lead to more innovations and technological changes. Once a luxury is now a necessity. Ultra high speed, better coverage and low cost will determine the new telecom landscape in India and all around the world.

-- Sudhir Tangri, Country GM and VP, Keysight Technologies.