Industries in Depth

What is the future of 5G?

Alexandre Fonseca, CEO of Altice Portugal, speaks during the first demonstration of the technology 5G in Lisbon, Portugal June 4, 2018.  Picture taken June 4, 2018.  REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

Boasting maximum speeds up to 1,000x faster than 4G. Image: REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

Jeff Desjardins
Founder and editor, Visual Capitalist

Just before the smartphone revolution, Nokia was by far the world’s most popular mobile handset manufacturer.

However, despite selling 250 million units of its two most popular block-shaped models in the mid-2000s, the Finnish company ended up being woefully late to the smartphone party. Not only was the company ill-equipped to match the iPhone and Blackberry in terms of technology and design features, but Nokia also failed to foresee how exponential advances in mobile connectivity would change how people ultimately used their devices.

As true broadband connectivity shaped the mobile experience, the phone was no longer just a phone – it was transformed into a seamless hub for any and all digital activity.

The 5G experience

In the coming years, the newest generation of mobile connectivity – 5G – will roll out and change what is possible again. With maximum speeds up to 1,000x faster than 4G, this new technology will again shift consumer behavior, as well as how we view smartphones, communications, IoT, gaming, and AR/VR.

Today’s infographic comes to us from Cradlepoint, and it highlights how the switch to 5G is unfolding, and what it could mean to you.

Image: Cradlepoint

The switch to 5G is already well underway, with countries like China and the United States spending billions of dollars since 2015 to get infrastructure in place.

And by 2035, it’s estimated that 5G will enable $12.3 trillion of global economic output, according to a recent report from IHS Markit.

What 5G will mean

Here are some of the key differentiators that 5G will provide to future wireless connectivity:

10x decrease in latency
Latency will be as low as 1ms.

10x increase in connection density
This will enable more efficient signaling for IoT connectivity.

3x spectrum efficiency
More bits per Hz will be achieved with advanced antenna techniques.

100x traffic capacity
This will drive network hyper-densification with more small cells everywhere.

10x experienced throughput
Multi-Gbps peak rates will be achieved with uniformity.

100x network efficiency
Network energy consumption will be optimized through more efficient processing.

The switch to 5G will mean longer battery life for devices, lower costs, enhanced cellular footprints, higher throughput, enhanced capacity, low latency, and virtually no packets dropped.

Have you read?

More importantly, as a result of these changes, how mobile connectivity looks in 10 years may be as unrecognizable as the Nokia block phone era does to us today.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Information Technology

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Information Technology is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why having low-carbon buildings also makes financial sense

Guy Grainger

September 18, 2024

Microplastics: Are we facing a new health crisis – and what can be done about it?

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum