5G: Revolution or Evolution?

Whether you are reading the news, watching a game or just driving home after work, it is hard to miss the stories, advertising and other buzz regarding the launch of 5G. Designed to meet the world’s growing demand for wireless connectivity, 5G features both a new radio design and a redesign of the back-end core networks used by carriers to transmit wireless data, all focused on greatly enhancing the network capability, reliability and providing an enhanced user experience.

Thanks to these 5G advancements, organizations can now deploy a variety of new mobile broadband, internet of things (IoT) and other new applications, such as mobile high-definition video streaming, super-fast mobile Wi-Fi hot spots and immersive augmented reality capabilities.

What Exactly is 5G?

5G is a wireless cellular technology standard developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The fifth such wireless cellular technology standard, 5G follows in the footsteps of 3G and 4G. Wireless cellular networks based on these standards can connect to smartphones, wireless routers, embedded modules and other wireless communications devices that also support the standard.

What Makes 5G Better than 4G?

5G delivers revolutionary improvements in data transmission speed, network latency, enhanced reliability, flexible deployment and other capabilities. In addition to its use of a new radio design and a new core network (called 5G Core Network or 5G CN), 5G can deliver these additional capabilities due to its use of more frequency bands than LTE and other existing wireless technologies.

How Can 5G Be Used for Mobility Applications?

The speed, latency, reliability, flexibility and other improvements reflected in 5G will improve organizations’ ability to use wireless cellular communications for many broadband, IoT and other mobility applications, including:

When it comes to police departments, fire departments, and other first responders, the better transmission of reliable, real-time video and data is the most immediate mobility application upgrade opportunity offered by 5G. Next would be augmented reality abilities to assist with the demand for real-time life-changing decision-making by first responders.

Today, people want connectivity wherever they are–even when they are in transit. Taking advantage of more flexible deployment options using 5G, public transit organizations can use vehicle area networks (VANs) to provide faster Wi-Fi to more passengers on their trains, trolleys, buses and ferries, allowing these passengers to watch high-quality videos, play low-latency games and access other demanding applications, even as they are traveling. These organizations can also use 5G vehicle routers to provide drivers with access to routing, scheduling and other cloud-based vehicle applications helping them better ensure the safety of their passengers and employees.

Utilities have been another market segment that has pioneered the use of mobility applications in their fleets. 5G provides them with the opportunity to enhance the value of these applications, and deploy new applications, by upgrading the capabilities of the VANs in these vehicles, as well as providing real-time connectivity back to cloud based intelligent applications

Starting the 5G Journey with Sierra Wireless

5G’s ability to deliver higher data transmission speeds, lower latency, ultra-high reliability, faster handoffs and other performance improvements opens up a world of enhanced and new mobility applications to public safety agencies, public transit organizations and utilities.

For these organizations, 5G is both evolutionary and revolutionary. It is an evolution that will coexist with LTE while providing some improved capabilities today. And it is a revolution that opens the door for organizations to deploy transformative new mobility applications in the future.

As one of the world’s leading IoT solutions providers, Sierra Wireless is well-positioned to help IT and other digital transformation professionals build out their 5G strategies. In addition, as an active participant in 3GPP’s standard development process, Sierra Wireless can provide IT professionals with insights on what 5G options make the most sense for them–and what enhancements 3GPP plans to add to the standard in the future.

Sierra Wireless’ strong relationships with mobile network operators and other companies in the 5G ecosystem ensure IT professionals understand the broader picture for 5G, helping them better plan for and accelerate their deployment of new 5G applications. Combined with Sierra Wireless’ dedication to offering the most secure IoT solutions on the market, these capabilities make Sierra Wireless the perfect partner for organizations as they progress on the path to 5G.

Why Partner with GetWireless and Sierra Wireless?

Together with Sierra Wireless, GetWireless offers a global channel ecosystem designed to help our resale partners drive incremental revenue by offering leading IoT products, a robust partner program, and an easy partnership that provides tools to grow your business. Our channel program fuels collaborative growth, together with our partners. Our services are comprised of decades of experience working exclusively with channel partners in the IoT, mobility, in-building connectivity, fleet tracking, and many wireless markets.

Available services include:

GetWireless offers the solutions, tools and support to enable you and your customers to succeed with 5G. Contact us to learn more or to speak to one of our IoT experts today.

David Smith is the Vice President of IoT Solutions at GetWireless.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.