Is 5G really going to be that revolutionary?

As we have seen with 3G and especially 4G, advances in mobile technology have revolutionised our ease of access to the Internet and completely changed the way most people communicate. Likewise 5G is likely to see us integrating more with existing augmented reality technologies in a similar way to how 4G paved the way for the integration of social media and apps into our daily lives. However considering the amazing potential the Internet of Things, autonomous transport, augmented reality and especially virtual reality applications may have, 5G could be completely revolutionary and change communication, entertainment, a multitude of professions, and everyday life, forever.

thestreet.com/amp/technology/what-is-5g-14875542 computerworld.com/article/3263822/5g-americas-says-5g-will-drive-autonomous-car-revolution.html adage.com/article/digital/5g-ces-revolutionary-electricity/316215

Preliminary research has shown that 5G technology which uses extremely high frequency electromagnetic waves, sometimes called millimetre waves due to their wavelengths being around millimetre, may carry increased health risks compared with older wireless communication technologies. As these millimetre waves have a much smaller range 5G technologies would require a much denser network of transmitters and receivers, meaning many more people will live and work in close proximity to electromagnetic sources which potentially pose unknown health risks. Current studies in this area are limited; however scientists from the United States National Toxicology Program exposed rats to federally allowable levels of cellphone radiation for nine hours a day in periods of ten minute intervals, and found levels of rare brain and heart tumours to double or quadruple. More research needs to be done before the onset of smart cities with widespread 5G integration become a reality.

latimes.com/business/la-fi-cellphone-5g-health-20160808-snap-story.html

5G technology is surrounded by marketing hype in an effort to try and save a cell phone market that is beginning to slump. Many researchers believe also it is being hyped up this year despite the fact it is not expected to be rolled out until around 2022, and won’t be widespread for many years to come. Furthermore 5G will just carry a speed increase and the technologies that utilise 5G maybe be revolutionary but not the technology on its own and not for many years to come, something that is currently leaving investors uninterested and consumers misled.

disruptive.asia/4g-not-5g-will-rule-2022

With a more invasive internet, come more invasive and more dangerous security risks. The real revolution of 5G will be in its application in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and the risk of compromising IoT systems that may invade people’s privacy, compromise their safety or expose them to greater economic risk. Furthermore the security risk posed to a smart city will be heightened and security solutions will inevitably also lagged behind security risks. Large scale ‘Mirai’ attacks that utilise botnets that involve millions of compromised IoT devices have already been carried out, all being used to launch denial of service attacks. These risks need to be taken seriously and technologies implemented slowly for 5G not to lead to an IoT hacking revolution...

wired.com/story/reaper-iot-botnet-infected-million-networks techspective.net/2019/02/10/the-future-of-5g-and-the-risks-that-come-with-it

The move to 5G only entails a faster form of mobile internet, it will allow higher definition videos to be streamed instead of saved, not as revolutionary as the introduction of previous technologies. There are no game changing tools coming out with 5G, like what happened with the advent of smart phones with 3G and the dawn of smart phone apps that 4G brought with it. 5G may be faster, and analysts think up to 3 times faster, but not that revolutionary, with speculation that it may be actually slower than some advanced 4G signals that are already in use in places like New York city.

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