The Essential Need for 5G in the COVID World

Much of my time these last few months has been spent looking at schools and companies that tried and often failed to pivot to remote work and education.

The Pandemic Makes This Problem Scary

Universities, Schools or big tech companies around the world were largely unprepared for a sudden switch to online learning & working prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and conditions were worst in developing countries like Brazil and India where third of whole population are'nt aware of pandemic and wth is Internet and online classes.

Now, this is undoubtedly problematic for work and school. However, with the pandemic, you now have a lot of folks who are being cared for at home by telemedicine to both protect their health and the health of health care providers. The telehealth hardware they have needs a network connection; and while it may have a 4G backup, the lack of 4G bandwidth and the likelihood that several homes during an outage could overwhelm the available bandwidth is uncomfortably high.

Oh, and while newer hardware may have a 4G connection, older hardware may not. So, given the enormous ramp-up in demand of people needing this equipment, and the limitations on manufacturing new hardware, spot shortages of even old equipment are likely to increase.

Furthermore, we have another new issue with telemedicine, and that is security. Not only is the data protected by pretty stiff government regulations, should the hardware become compromised, but it could also result in a tragic outcome.

In short, it may no longer be that your video streaming, children's education, and job (notice my priorities) depend on the network, but your life may depend on it as well.

5G to the Rescue

We talk about 5G in terms of increased bandwidth, but its value is far higher.

5G resulted from a colossal effort to address the problems we discovered in the decades that preceded. For instance, it doesn't just have more bandwidth -- it handles the bandwidth differently so that it performs well even at the network's edge -- something that prior versions did not do well. Given how we are likely going to be depending on 5G across broad geographic areas, that network performance is critical.

Added to that is a little-known technology called "millimeter wave." This technology provides a better way for signals to move within buildings and around obstacles. Places where a 4G device would struggle, 5G devices with millimeter wave should work far better. This capability is critical for things like connected security cameras that might be used to monitor children or patients at home to ensure they are safe and either doing their schoolwork or not doing things that could put their health at higher risk.

But really, the big thing is that once 5G is up in an area, it is very simple, relatively inexpensive, and fast to provide someone with a 5G modem to give them reliable high-speed Internet coverage. No pulling cable or fiber, no rolling a truck to wire their house; just plug in the 5G access point (which should also have WiFi 6) and voilà: You have a reliable, fast, secure connection to the Internet.