Our Managing Director, Martin Lauer, cuts through the PR and breaks down 5G

Martin's key points about 5G

1. There will be lots of hype around 5G - there was lots of hype about 3G and 4G - I have been here before and during both of these network upgrades to see through the hype.  
2. O2 were the first to announce and deploy 5G earlier this year - they are live in the O2 Arena and invited the TOP FTSE 100 to come and test it.  
3. O2 and EE's launch will be 5G Lite in 2019, as will probably Vodafone and Three's - they all have a 5G Spectrum. Networks called their 'non-standalone network upgrades to 4G' EDGE and HDSPA, as they were not true '4G standalone networks' - if we are being honest, until the standalone 5G network is deployed it will always be 4G on steroids.
4. All networks will deploy 5G Lite in 2019 (O2 have done Greenwich already) - followed by TRUE 5G by 2020.
5. Expect hype - currently there are only a few handsets available that carry 5G - these include Huawei's devices which are to be investigated following security concerns.
6. There will be more and more hype - get used to it.

5G is coming to locations across the UK soon, learn how our award-winning Business Mobile team can help your business harness the benefits.

The BIGGEST benefits of 5G - in order:

1. Super-low latency (ONLY when a 'Standalone service') which will enable driverless cars, M2M and much more!  
2. Lower drain on device batteries (hurray!) - the new 5G tech (ONLY when a 'Standalone service') will help everyone as battery life is still a mobile users Achilles heel.  
3. Speed - it promises to be 10-100 times faster (10 times in 5G Lite non-standalone state)

Also: We expect an inevitable rise in costs for 5G technology.

EE did not like O2's comments:

O2's assertion made to 5G.co.uk that, 'Any UK operator launching '5G' before 2020 would be using a 'lite version' of the technology", has been strongly refuted by spokesperson for EE.

The EE spokesperson continues, 'We've always been clear to our technical audience that we're launching with non-standalone 5G, based on 3GPP Release 15 Option 3. We'll be very clear with customers about the capabilities of our 5G at the launch, and as we introduce new features that enable new experiences.'

Martin appeared on BBC Radio Humberside's 'Drivetime' on the 14th November 2018, where he spoke about all things 5G.

For more information about 5G, we have a blog post available to read here:

The power of 5G - What you need to know