With the largest tech centre outside of London, Birmingham boasts a wide range of different offerings in the tech world from financial technologies, game developers, IT support, cybersecurity, and Medtech. The city hosts over 3000 different tech companies and with the recent rollout of 5G centered around the West Midlands, it is an exciting time for tech in the area.
But, what does the rollout of 5G really mean for the technical infrastructure of the city and wider area, and what will it bring to Birmingham that 4G couldn’t?
What Is 5G?
5G is a superfast mobile internet. Compatible devices will see vastly increased upload and download speeds meaning that you can move greater amounts of data in an instant. It will eventually replace or at least augment the existing 4G network.
How Does 5G Affect A City Such As Birmingham?
Densely populated cities mean that there are a lot of people using the current 4G networks. At busy times of the day that puts pressure on the network, and because it is at capacity, users start to experience a slowdown.
5G removes this problem by increasing the spectrum in the bands that have not been used for commercial traffic.
What Will 5G Bring To Birmingham?
5G will not only be useful in improving speeds for general users, but businesses will also be able to take advantage of these speeds which will allow them to increase productivity greatly by implementing new technologies. This will be very relevant to the establish Birmingham Tech industry.
5G will play an important part in the utility and council infrastructure. The technology will allow the local councils to react immediately to floods, street lights going out. CCTV will also be improved.
One of the most exciting technological advancements that 5G will help make possible is the autonomous car. While these are still a while away from hitting the road of the UK yet, the development of this technology promises to provide greater road safety with cars having the ability to communicate with other vehicles and the road to preempt problems that may arise.
5G will be used heavily in the healthcare industry with telemedicine, improvements in the precisions of surgery, remote recovery, and augmented reality-based virtual reality therapy.
The Internet of Things (IoT) has been an exciting development in the last few years which has seen many of our homes become networked. Using powerful home assistance tools to link up every aspect of technology in our home offers lots of benefits to every household and business. But current bandwidth limits the potential of the IoT. 5g promises to change all that, and we are likely to see big developments in creating a more joined-up digital life.
When To Expect These Changes?
5G began its rollout In July 2019, with Birmingham being one of the first places in the UK to go live. Compatible technology is on the market, and as more products join the market, prices of this tech will start to drop slowly. But with 5G designed to serve us far into the future, expect to see more benefits to this emerging as the technology develops.
