How fast could 5G become?

Each new generation of smartphone communication represents a huge improvement over its predecessor.

Despite the best efforts of EDGE in the late 1990s, the 2G network was never really suitable for internet access, with EDGE offering maximum connection speeds of just 200kbps.

This made 2001’s launch of 3G all the more significant. Suddenly, mobile phones were able to display text-based internet services within seconds, rather than minutes.

Similarly, when 4G arrived, there was breathless talk of seamless gaming, and watching HD video content over the internet.

Even today, that’s only achievable in certain locations.

However, the fifth generation of cellular connectivity offers something even greater than another quantum leap in download speeds.

It promises always-on connectivity, combining long-range and localised signal distribution to strike a balance between range and speed.

And there is great excitement about the latter’s potential, with laboratory experiments achieving 5G speeds far in excess of anything previously thought possible.

Like a sports car on the starting line, 5G promises incredible things once it takes off. But what could 5G speeds look like in a few years’ time?

5-speed transmission

If you ask the internet about 5G speeds, you’ll probably be told they range between one and three gigabits per second.

This is achieved across far higher frequencies than the 2.4GHz and 5GHz wavebands used by home broadband routers.

As frequencies increase, so do data transmission rates, though the distance these signals can cover drops off rapidly.

You’d need to be close to a cell tower to enjoy speeds of 3Gbps, but they’re quite possible, since 5G networks combine signals received from long-range and localised transmitters.

However, engineers know the 5G system is capable of much more.

An experiment last month by Samsung saw 5G mobile data being distributed at 8.5Gbps – the fastest speed ever recorded in laboratory conditions – over the 28GHz frequency.

It should be noted that these laboratory conditions aren’t reflective of the real world. Data was distributed from around ten feet away with uninterrupted line-of-sight in an empty room.

The only devices connected to this network were using Samsung’s latest 5G hardware, including modems not yet available in consumer devices.

However, the demonstration does prove speeds well in excess of 3Gbps are possible. Indeed, it’s believed this technology could eventually support connectivity of 10Gbps.

That’s 10,000 times faster than you’d need to stream one second of full HD YouTube footage. In fact, you could download a full-length 4K movie inside ten seconds.

Too fast for love?

This poses a question about whether 5G could become faster than we’ll never need.

Some people argue we simply won’t need the level of speed 5G networks can offer, irrespective of how internet usage and bandwidth consumption evolve over the coming years.

However, having excess capacity in the system is clearly preferable to the situation 3G and 4G both reached, where high levels of consumer demand frequently overwhelmed networks.

A bigger problem involves sustaining rapid speeds in real-world environments with ambient weather, physical barriers to signal movement and multiple devices transmitting data.

EE and Vodafone claim consumers could see up to 1Gbps on current 5G-enabled devices.

Yet data supplied by Opensignal last autumn indicated maximum UK 5G speeds of less than 600Mbps – far superior to 4G, but clearly a long way short of what’s possible.

Even so, 5G speeds may soon reach a point where data transfer occurs almost instantaneously.

That would also herald the first time consumers have had a mobile network capable of operating faster than they want or need it to.