5G and the Future of Mobile Technology

5G future mobile technology by 2021

Augmented reality may soon power a virtual shopping experience, where a consumer can walk through personalized store aisles, testing products from the comfort of their couch. This is a glimpse of the future of 5G -  the next-generation mobile technology that is set to transform the customer experience.

The mobile technology of the future is here

5G will usher in a new era of super fast connectivity - estimated at around 10 gigabits per second. That’s 600 times faster than the 4G speeds on mobile phones. It will give mobile users the ability to download an HD movie in a few seconds.

In 2019, several countries commenced with a 5G rollout. It’s already reached several American cities, and the first UK cities are set to get access to 5G networks in mid-2019 - so pretty much any day now. By 2025, 5G is expected to account for 15 percent of the connections worldwide.

Anticipation for the mobile technology is mounting amongst US mobile phone users, and 39 percent of Australians said they’d switch to 5G as soon as it became available.

And while it won’t reach 4G market dominance overnight, it’s time to explore the brand possibilities 5G offers your company.

The 5G factor and your business

5G is expected to alter the customer experience in profound ways, and here’s how.

Internet of Things

The launch of 5G will spark a dramatic change in the Internet of Things (IoT).

By 2021, 22.5 billion IoT devices will be installed worldwide, according to an estimate by Business Insider Intelligence. This proliferation of connected devices coincides with the global arrival of 5G.

In a post on ZDNet, Paul Bevan, IT Infrastructure research director at Bloor, says that 5G will unlock the IoT’s potential for businesses.

"5G networks will give businesses the ability to capture massive volumes of data from remote locations, transferring it to centers where artificial intelligence can perform real-time analysis," said Bevan.

Impact on video marketing

Video is predicted to be an early target for 5G, giving companies new ways to provide richer customer experiences.

People are already consuming more video than ever before.

American adults spend more than 100 minutes watching videos on their smartphone each week. More than half of consumers want to see videos from brands in the future, according to HubSpot.

The 32nd edition of the Mobile World Congress provided a vision of video in the 5G-enabled future. Offering an analysis of the trends at the conference, Ian Dailey, in a post for Venturebeat, writes:

“Branded films are extremely effective during the holidays and Super Bowl seasons. Delivering such immersive content...via MMS will be a new kind of brand-to-consumer experience...The download time for a 30-minute video will be seconds rather than hours.”

Augmented reality and the customer experience

A lot of hype surrounds the applications for augmented reality in business. But 5G lays the groundwork for this new tech to become broadly available.

Tom Kenney offers a tangible way in which companies can take advantage of 5G to deliver rich, immersive customer experiences.

“I’ve seen demonstrations of next-gen mobile experiences that allow you to sit at home and try on clothes in an AR space, for example. With 5G, mobile marketers will be able to implement experiences like that one.”

5G has promise but the mobile technology still has limited reach

You need to be ready to exploit the 5G opportunity, but it’ll take some time before this mobile technology will replace 4G worldwide. If you’re after global reach and reliability, read our recent article about pairing SMS with new forms of technology to maximize customer engagement.