Using 5G Networking for Business

There has been a whole lot of excitement and impatience surrounding the impending arrival of 5G technology, but so far most of it has revolved around its potential for enhancing the functionality of personal devices.  What has been much less in the news is the opportunity that it is likely to provide for business users.

So, it might be an idea to take a look at what 5G has to offer the world of commerce:

5G Explained

But before we examine what 5G might mean for business, let’s consider what enhancements the new technology will actually provide to our existing capability.

The most obvious benefit that it brings will be in terms of reducing delay, or latency times to use the correct industry parlance.   When 4G replaced 3G it basically provided for greater capacity, but data transfer and download speeds were fairly much the same.  By contrast, 5G offers much faster movement of data.  Whilst those extra few seconds may not seem to represent a revolution in communications, add them together and the time saved by your enterprise by avoiding dead or “latent” periods of waiting will be valuable time that can be spent developing your core business.

And we are not just talking about small margins here.  Estimates suggest that 5G will provide speeds of between five to ten times those delivered by 4G.  Or to look at it another way, that’s five to ten times as much data which can be carried without any increase in waiting time.  Faster data transfer means less network congestion, so the quality of service will be greatly improved too.

The Benefits for Business

Companies presently use 4G technology which itself serves the demands of often sophisticated infrastructure, so the potential which arises from an upgrade to a faster and more efficient system is immense.  Greater download and transfer speeds means more can be done within the same period of time.  Information transfer options presently considered too time-consuming and cumbersome suddenly become possible, offering exciting new possibilities.

Business-level 4G routers already boast the capability to host multiple SIMs, allowing for the bonding of multiple data connections.  5G technology will enhance this capability by making possible an increase in the amount of data that is able to pass through the router by a factor of five. 

Solving Problems Through 5G WAN Technology

That faster transfer speeds make for a more efficient business operation is pretty much a given, but there are many more windows of opportunity that will inevitably open as a result.

One such relates to installation times – in effect the amount of time it actually takes after having placed an order to have a fully wired-up operational system in place.  This can in practice take weeks or even months to put in place, which is not only highly inconvenient but also impacts badly upon your business potential.

While there are plenty of background questions to ask a provider – installing a wireless 5G router at your business premises should be a simple matter.  Once it is configured you are immediately online and ready to roll.  As well as saving a whole lot of stress, you will also have stolen a march on competitors who are less motivated or proactive than yourself.

Creating Limitless Opportunities

Once your 5G capability is in place there are just so many opportunities waiting to be exploited.  Increased speeds mean increased capacity, and the time that you will have saved will provide options for expanding your business and improving the way that you do things.  Here are just a few benefits that you may wish to consider:

Human Resource Allocation

In the modern working environment it isn’t always necessary, or even beneficial, to have all your employed or contracted staff working from one physical location.  Improved data communications technology enables you to relocate employees either to their homes or to wherever your clients happen to be, resulting in more streamlined and efficient service delivery.

With a 5G router employees can link back effortlessly to your network, providing a more agile and balanced service for maximum efficiency.

Scaling Operations

A cumbersome wired operation only has finite capacity for data storage and transfer.  Improving capacity by upgrading to 5G creates new possibilities, giving you more options and allowing you to consider expanding or improving your set-up with the resources currently available to you.

Increased Portability

Many businesses, as part of their operations, rely on announcing their services to potential clients through shows, conventions and exhibitions.  This can mean physically transporting technology and sundry props and exhibits to a temporary location, often involving either limited space or restricted access to power and provisions.

Having to move a complex and unsightly wired operation to such a location can be discouraging and prohibitive.  Upgrading to wireless 5G technology enables a more seamless and efficient movement of your operation when the opportunity arises to showcase your business in a public or multi-business environment.

Other pop-up Opportunities

Other temporary situations may also often be available through which to market your service and product, and similar issues arise.  Portability – the potential to move technology in and out of a limited space with often restricted access to resources – almost invariably presents a logistical challenge and the incorporation of more flexible hardware and software into your operation will give you an advantage when addressing these infrastructural difficulties.

The Overall Benefits

As can be seen, moving up from 4G to 5G functionality puts your business operation onto a whole new level and opens new doors as you strive to modernise your systems and maximise efficiency without having to increase footfall or your staff base.  Indeed the object of the exercise is always to get more from what you already have.  Increased speeds means more effective data transfer and therefore more options.

In all the excitement which surrounds the intended rollout of 5G for private users, we should be alert to the potential that it also provides for business users in this increasingly fast and competitive world of commerce.