Introduction
This article is going to discuss what is 5G, the history of 5G including other wireless networks, it’s status around the world, its competitor networks, and the evolution and status of 5G. The main focus throughout the article would be in the context of India and would mainly elaborate its effects, usages, and consequences. We will also try to understand not only its advantages, but disadvantages too.
What is 5G?
5G is the 5th Generation mobile network and is the latest standard of wireless data and network after its precedents: 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G. Of course, it is a much better and updated version of its brother networks.
South Korea was the first country to launch 5G in March 2019 by KT, LG Uplus, and SK Telecom. It has also been introduced in major cities of Canada.
The 5G network has been designed in such a way as to connect everyone and everything together virtually by machines, objects and devices. This 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-GBps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.[1] This higher quality, power, and speed attracts more customers and connects new industries.
Dr. John Smee says, “It’s the ability to have that kind of information availability be more instantaneous, more relevant and more structured specific to that situation”[2].
Other generation of networks [from 1G to 5G[3]]
To reach from 1G wireless cellular networks to the 5G wireless cellular network, it took about 40 years of dedication and contribution by the community of technology.
Let us briefly look at each Generation of wireless networks:
1G Technology
In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone launched 1G and was first introduced to the citizens of Tokyo.
In 1984, Japan was the first country to have a nationwide wireless network of 1G.
However, it was introduced in the United States, in 1983 by Ameritech and soon after, Canada received the services in the mid-1980s.
However, 1G being a revolution at its own time stands very far away from today’s standards. Like, the quality of voice while speaking to someone through the network was not very clear. Coverage was much less than we get today. Further, no roaming support was there. Imagine traveling and only being able to contact people through STD booths in today’s world! The traveling speed was around 2.4 Kbps, which now doesn’t even work for search engines.
2G Technology
After the huge success of 1G, Finland launched the 2G on the Global System for Mobile Communications famously known as the GSM in 1991.
2G provided something that 1G could not, i.e., introducing encrypted calls meaning that now no third party could involve or drop between a call unwanted. It also improved the sound quality, and download speed to about 0.2 Mbps.
2G also brought a big change by introducing the transfer of bits of data from one phone to another. One such example is ringtones. Therefore, the basic smartphone functionality was established thanks to 2G.
SMS (text messages) and MMS (multimedia messages) were also a gift of 2G as a form of communication between two cell phones. In that era, Nokia became the leading company for producing popular cell phones of 2G functionality. Every 90s kid would know the struggle and happiness of using Nokia phones and 2G, isn’t it?
3G Technology
NTT DoCoMo in 2001 made 3G available to the public in Japan focusing on standardizing vendors’ network protocol. 3G provided international roaming services and access to data from anywhere throughout the world making it a global sensation.
3G was a peak for the generation of networks having a data speed of 2 Mbps on average. In my view, it could alternatively be also called the “era of social media” as it connected millions of people through video conferencing, emails through mobile phones, internet surfing, and of course our life saviors, streaming music on mobile!
This network is still in use in many countries. For example, in Canada, the 3G speed has almost reached up to 6 Mbps.
4G Technology
4G was strategically introduced in Norway for commercial use in 2009 which offered today’s standard of data services. The minimum data speed of 4G is 12.5 Mbps, providing extreme high-quality video for streaming as well as video chats, fast like a flick web access, and the love of our pro-gamers, online gaming.
However, when 4G was first introduced, it wasn’t actually 4G as the minimum 12.5 Mbps data speed was not attainable. Therefore, it was decided that Long-term evolution, what we now know as LTE could be labeled as 4G by providing a significant improvement in 3G.
In 2012, Canada launched its first LTE wireless network known as the 4G LTE.
4G in itself completes many demands of the changing world, however, since the world is dynamic and so are we, the generation of wireless networks also needs to keep changing to fulfill the needs and demands of higher technologies. Hence, the 5G.
In India, all these networks to become a nationwide use took some time than the other developed parts of the world. However, in recent years, India has only been slightly different in time from countries like South Korea, Japan, and the US in offering 3G, 4G, and 5G networks for mobile phones.
What more does 5G offer?
The average 5G speed in Canada is 169.46 Mbps which is 205% faster than 4G. Therefore, experts are claiming that 5G can be 20 times faster than 4G. With its decreased latency, the download and upload speed has increased tremendously. 5G also has a larger frequency range which is designed to support not just mobile phones or cell phones, but other devices and technologies too. 5G specially would be useful for technologies like AI, IoT and Cloud computing by connecting not just mobile phones but also enhancing machine-to-machine connectivity.
Not only these, 5G aims to revolutionize the way we work in our daily lives. Like, the profession of doctor, where an Artificial intelligence would be able to diagnose a patient, or a robot being able to monitor crops and harvest the farms. Of course, these cannot alone be achieved by 5G, but it’s a step forward towards coming generations of network.
However, talking about AIs taking over the world, it’s always fearful, including the fear of dangerous emissions through greater power of networks. As a result, 5G too has seen criticisms which we are going to discuss.
Criticisms for 5G
Unlike the open-hug acceptance of other generation wireless networks, 5G has been quite opposed and received criticism. The main and major cause of this backlash is electromagnetic hypersensitivity, short for EHS.
EHS is a condition that some people suffer from, and whose symptoms are:
- Stinging sensation on the face or body
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Decreased memory power
- Nausea
- Sleep disturbance
However, one study done by the World Health Organization, i.e., WHO, did not find any link between electromagnetic fields and hypersensitivity ailments, confirming that electromagnetic waves aren’t a cause of suffering from these symptoms, or for that matter, EHS.[4]
Criticism of 5G in India
India also did not become an exception in bringing up this matter of 5G being “harmful”. Recently, on June 21, Juhi Chawla, an Indian actress, producer and an entrepreneur, filed a suit in the High Court of Delhi, which talked about the harmful effects of 5G. It was said in the suit that 5G is “extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people”.[5] Therefore, it was pleaded that 5G rollout in India would be dangerous towards the citizens and the environment.
However, in the virtual hearing of the lawsuit, the High Court of Delhi dismissed the suit stating that her lawsuit was defective and misused the process of law. Further, the Court also questioned Juhi Chawla as to why she did not approach the Government first and instead directly filed a suit. Not only this, for wasting the time of the Court, she was imposed with a fine of Rs. 20 Lakh![6]
Later Juhi Chawla gave her statement that she isn’t against 5G or development of technology, she only wanted to put forth this concerning issue in front of the right authorities.
Now, we will see the current status of 5G in India.
5G in India
Currently, 5G is not available nationwide in India but many Telecom operators have expressed their views on it.
The Bharti Airtel Telecom conducted India’s first 5G rural trial in the outskirts of Delhi[7]. Also, Mr. Ambani has expressed his positive response towards 5G and its need in India.[8] He said that “Jio”, the mainstream wireless network provider of India, would be launching 5G soon.
The estimated time of launch of 5G in India for the public is April, 2022, which everyone is looking forward to.
Earlier in 2017, the Indian Government had also expressed that India was aiming to launch 5G before its estimated time with 100% coverage which now may be coming true.
Plans for implementation of 5G in India[9]
Spectrum Harmonization
Currently, in India, the spectrum assignment is still in process. The service providers have the freedom to decide the technology to be deployed in the given spectrum band. Therefore, service providers can use any spectrum band to provide 5G services. However, spectrum harmonization is a goal to achieve for India for better economies of scale, reduction in interference issues across borders, enabling of roaming, which will ultimately result in increased uptake.
For an ample spectrum, the 5G HLF has recommended three tiers of access spectrum release for 5G based on availability and readiness, namely; Announce tier, Identify tier and Study tier.
Small Cell Development
Plan to deploy small cells so that operators will be able to support significantly higher capacity in dense areas and improved coverage in areas where building blockage reduces the signal strength. As 5G capabilities depend on a hyper dense network, small cells are planned to be deployed at every 200-250 meters on several types of infrastructure such as electric utility poles, street light poles, bus stands, etc.
Wireless Backhauling
For the expected traffic growth particularly because of LTE (4G) and 5G networks after the establishment of 5G, it will be difficult to manage through existing microwave backhauls, therefore for demand of more capacity, backhaul portfolio’s need is set as mmWave spectrum.
Service based architecture
The 5G network is planned to be based on service based architecture (SBA) to meet different requirements of the consumers, enterprises and industries.
Investment
For 5G network, there is a substantial investment requirement for Radio network, spectrum, backhaul, etc. For this purpose, it will not just be based on Government Funds, the expected new revenue streams after the implementation of 5G will also play a role for enhanced mobile broadband.
However, these plans made in 2019 are not yet completely implemented resulting in the delay of 5G in India. The Indian Government has handed out spectrum to the Indian telcos for trials for 6 months[10]. Even after Indian service providers including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have conducted their 5G trials, the final execution of 5G in India is expected in the middle-half of the year 2022.
Conclusion
In my view, India has seen very dynamic statistics of wireless mobile networks. The population of India being the second largest in the world, and its poverty rate being quite high, these factors make it impossible for everyone to use 3G networks in India. It is sadly true that many Indians still use only 2G networks for their daily basic need of communication to save room for other financial liabilities. If 5G can achieve what is predicted of it, then it may reach the rural part of India to not only help them in communication, but their professions like farming, health, etc. That will be a huge success for not only technology, but humanity too. However, it is also true that for the coming 4-5 years at least, it will not be cheap in price, nor will it be able to reach everyone. But, every step is a step anyways, so I hope that with the coming of 5G networks, we will not only see development for the richer section of society, but for everyone.
References:
[1] What is 5G, Qualcomm, https://www.qualcomm.com/5g/what-is-5g
[2] What is 5G?: 101 Seconds with Dr. John Smee , Qualcomm, Jan 16, 2017, https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2017/01/16/what-5g-101-seconds-dr-john-smee
[3] Richard Galazzo, Timeline from 1G to 5G: A Brief History on Cell Phones, CENGN, Sep 21 (2020), https://www.cengn.ca/information-centre/innovation/timeline-from-1g-to-5g-a-brief-history-on-cell-phones/
[4] Richard Galazzo, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS): Is it a Threat to 5G?, CENGN, Feb 10 (2021), https://www.cengn.ca/information-centre/innovation/electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-ehs-is-it-a-threat-to-5g/
[5] BS Web Team, HC dismisses Juhi Chawla’s suit against 5G tech, imposes fine of Rs 20 lakh, Business Standard, 17:17 IST, June 4 (2021), https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/hc-dismisses-juhi-chawla-s-suit-against-5g-tech-imposes-fine-of-rs-20-lakh-121060400945_1.html
[6] Srishti Ojha, ‘Defective, Vexatious’ : Delhi High Court Dismisses Juhi Chawla’s Civil Suit Against 5G Roll Out With Rs 20 Lakhs Cost, Live Law.in, 11:10 A.M. GMT, June 4 (2021), https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/delhi-high-court-juhi-chawla-5g-telecommunication-service-175229
[7] Danish Khan, First 5G network to be launched within two-quarters of spectrum auction, pan-India coverage in 1 year: Airtel, The Economic Times, 4:34 P.M., Oct 5 (2021), https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/first-5g-network-to-be-launched-within-two-quarters-of-spectrum-auction-pan-india-coverage-in-1-year-airtel/articleshow/86780680.cms
[8] Tech Desk, 5G rollout should be India’s top priority, says Mukesh Ambani, The Indian Express, 12:20 P.M., Dec. 8 (2021), https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/5g-rollout-should-be-indias-top-priority-says-mukesh-ambani-7662031/
[9] Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, A White Paper on Enabling 5G in India, Feb 22 (2019), https://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/White_Paper_22022019_0.pdf
[10] Gagandeep Kaur, Indian government causes 5G delays, wants 5Gi, Fierce Wireless, Aug 24 (2021), https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/indian-government-causes-5g-delays-wants-5gi
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