The Fifth Generation of Wi-Fi is Here

Every ten years or so, something big happens in mobile. Once a decade, a new generation of mobile network technology comes along: the first mobile networks appeared in the 1980s, GSM follow ed in the 1990s, 3G arrived at the turn of the century, and LTE began rolling out in 2010. Each generation has set out to fix the flaws of its predecessor: GSM fixed the security weaknesses of analogue telephony, 3G was meant to sort out GSM's lack of mobile data and, given it didn't much succeed, 4G was needed to finally make consuming data less of an unpleasant experience. Here's the thing: no one's too sure about 5G, not really, not yet. The main gripes that people have with their mobile service today are coverage and price - neither of which are problems that need a new generation of mobile tech to solve. Throw a bit of cash into building out LTE and LTE-A and much of these headaches would go away, yet the industry is ploughing full steam ahead into 5G. Instead, the industry is hoping 5G will solve problems we don't have today, but those that could hold us back years in the future. "5G"- is something of a misnomer: the standard doesn't exist yet. It will be months, likely years, before it's finally defined. In the meantime, organisations, governments, and academics are working on the technologies that will form the standard, but today, 5G is purely a concept, and one that needs to go from vapourware to real-world rollout in the next six years. 5G probably won't diverge from the age-old pattern, but it does come with one added hassle: we just don't have enough spectrum to go around any longer, according to wireless analysts. Roaming in particular could be problematic. The new risks with 5G .5G makes all sorts of technologies possible - but also raises the stakes. If your car is being operated via a cloud-based autonomous driving system over 5G, you don't want to lose the signal right at the precise moment it's about to tell your vehicle to slam on the brakes. Operators and technology companies know that (and are perhaps considering the insurance implications). So they are aiming to cut network latency to make sure such an event doesn't happen. The theory is that 5G will allow mobile carriers to figure out new and different ways to part users from their money, not necessarily because the new network permits it, but because buyers will be far more comfortable swallowing a price rise if it's accompanied by a perceived leap in technology at the same time. Among potential pricing change may be offering data tiered by speeds — a practice that we're already starting to see in Europe with the advent of LTE and LTE-A networks. Another option is that flat-rate data packages disappear, and that pricing is simply stepped up incrementally as users consumer more and more. Packages may be segmented along service lines - all the video or music streaming you can eat for a certain price with quality of service thrown in. Either way, as one wit put it, it will end in tiers. This isn't the only way that 5G will mean consumers will find themselves having to put their hands in their pockets. Every new generation of mobile technology means that consumers have to put their hands in their pockets for a new smartphone, usually another way for operators to extract more cash, either as an upfront fee or in exchange for signing a long-term contract, from their customers. 5G and the internet of things Historically, mobile data was something that human-controlled devices, not autonomous machines, consumed, and it was designed accordingly to cater to the usage patterns for phones, and later laptops and tablets. Now, the mobile industry is trying to work out how machines, not least those latency-loathing autonomous cars, will want to consume data. That means getting vertical companies involved in the standardisation process — companies who have historically never had to take an interest in networking and whose core competencies don't involve mobility. "If mobile has taught us anything, it's that when it comes to predicting the future of our networks, all bets are off."