5G Impresses in China and Disappoints in America; See what’s changed on the network – 07/15/2022

such as 5G Has it changed the countries where it was already implemented? Do people see a difference day to day? The revolution expected Is technology running its course? The The arrival of “pure” 5G in BrazilThe past week has reignited interest in what will change in practice.

For example, in China, 5G to attract There, you can feel the impact of the industry and the progress of robotics and drones. In America, the sentiment among critics was disappointment. Check out these sentiments and what changes 5G has made in other countries below.

5G in Brazil: A Review

Brasilia is the first capital city to receive approval from Anatel (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações) to offer “pure” 5G – not using 4G infrastructure to operate. Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, João Pessoa and São Paulo are the next to roll out a mobile internet signal.

Technologically, 5G promises to be revolutionary in delivering key features:

• Downloads At speeds of gigabits per second. For example, it is possible to download movies within a minute. It is expected to be 20 times faster than the 4G network.
• Low latency, the response time between one command and another in the network. The prediction is that faster internet could be used in telemedicine, electric cars, drones, etc.
• Greater stability, less chance of link oscillations.

China: The practical application is already impressive

China, which has had service since November 2019, leads the world in 5G coverage rankings, with 356 cities relying on the technology, according to data from the Statista website. It is the country with the most relevant patents, 40% of which – only the company HuaweiA Chinese technology company has 6,500.

Although it is difficult to measure the extent of the impact on the daily life of the population, some industrial and strategic applications of 5G are worth highlighting. An example is the Smart Ceramic Factory in Yangchun County, East China.

According to the Chinese newspaper China Daily, it uses robots for detection and quality control. Manufacturing systems sound alarms if something needs to be redone, and if something is abnormal, they deliver faulty products. Quality control information is displayed on screens so factory workers can monitor it in real time.

Further, Autonomous vehicles Run around the factory (without drivers) and transport the ceramic products being produced. According to newspaper estimates, this digitization increases production efficiency by 35%, reduces energy consumption by 7% and reduces operating costs by 8%.

Another promise thanks to 5G in China is a plan to integrate the technology with the country’s Global Satellite Positioning System (BDS). GPSWho is American?

The last satellite BDS launched into space in 2020And the first results can already be seen: the country has implemented an intelligent inspection system on its railways, with the help of drones to keep passengers safe.

The system collects, along with other data, photos and videos of the steel structures and sends them to the control center, which intelligently detects changes between images and issues warnings in case of danger.

Finally, an interesting application of 5G in China was in the reconstruction of the rain-affected Henan province in 2021. As with natural disasters, infrastructure was destroyed and local communication was affected.

China Mobile, the world’s largest telephone operator, has set up a 5G station, operated by low-flying drones in the region during the most critical period, restoring communications and facilitating search and rescue operations.

America: Disappointment

With the opening of the network in April 2019, the US is the second largest in the world in terms of 5G connectivity. But overall, according to critics, the mood of the technology is disappointing.

In a speech published by Forbes, high-speed networks will be limited to metropolitan areas due to the density of infrastructure required for the technology, according to Jennifer Alvarez, a leading data analyst at wireless networks Aurora Insight. In February this year.

“5G is not going to dramatically change the daily lives of most Americans,” he said.

Former Chief Executive of GoogleEric Schmidt, even more extreme: In an editorial published in the Wall Street Journal in February, he said that the United States had a “pitiful performance” in the race against China to dominate the 5G market.

In the text, he even criticizes the performance of internet speeds in the country: an average of 93.73 Mbps (megabits per second), much lower than the 299 Mbps recorded in China.

Be that as it may, there are already some practical applications of 5G to show for it in the US. In Louisville, Texas, for example, the company Swedish Ericsson owns a smart factory.

Among the highlights of this industrial plant is to create a digital version similar to its physical version for improvement:

• Testing innovations Augmented reality.
• Using machine learning (artificial intelligence machine learning) in visual inspection is done with high-resolution cameras while production is in progress.
• Real-time data collection to reduce energy use, such as turning off lights in unoccupied environments.

South Korea: One photo is missing

In April 2019, South Korea was the first country to launch commercial 5G operations, just ahead of the US, and 45% of the population is already covered by the technology.

However, there is still no significant change in people’s daily habits due to lack of demand. Although the South Korean tech industry has ambitious plans for 5G, they have yet to materialize.

In an interview with Reuters in May, analyst Kim Hyun-yong used the transition from 3G to 4G in 2011 as an example: at the time, apps like YouTube and Netflix required rapid change and adoption of new technology by owners. It happened naturally.

Not yet seen in 5G, this should convince incumbents that they should adopt it.

In addition, the high radio frequency bands (a kind of highway used to make the network work) have difficulty getting around the obstacles necessary for 5G to operate at its most impressive speeds.

Thus, they reduce the efficiency of the technology. So, according to Reuters, operators in South Korea have already built 250,000 5G stations, of which only 2% operate at maximum speed.

Philippines: A leap in speed

The Philippines is the country with the best 5G coverage. That’s because that country, unlike other US allies, has opened the door to Chinese investments in technology. Although the Philippines already uses Social websitesThe country suffered from poor connectivity and slow speeds.

In this sense, the implementation of 5G in October 2021 helped change this situation. According to mobile connectivity analytics firm OpenSignal, the country has seen the biggest improvement in download speeds, going from an average of 140.6 mbps and performing 9.8 times better than local 4G.

5G is already five times faster Wi-Fi in the country.

In other countries

Canada, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and Saudi Arabia have already implemented 5G in some of their major cities and are in the process of expanding their networks.