5G Q&A

 

"Everything you need to know about 5G"

Here is where you find 5G technology explained—how 5G works, why 5G is important and how it’s changing the way the world connects and communicates. At Qualcomm, we invented the foundational breakthroughs that make 5G possible.

Q: What is 5G?

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

 

Q: What is 5G capable of?

5G will do much more than significantly improve your network connection. It provides new opportunities, enabling us to deliver groundbreaking solutions that reach across society. Imagine billions of connected devices gathering and sharing information in real time to reduce road accidents; or life-saving applications that can take flight thanks to lag-free guaranteed connections; or production lines so predictive they can prevent interruptions well before they occur. There’s no need to imagine. We are making it happen.

 

Q: What are the differences between the previous generations of mobile networks and 5G?

The previous generations of mobile networks are 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G.

First generation - 1G
1980s: 1G delivered analog voice.

Second generation - 2G
Early 1990s: 2G introduced digital voice (e.g. CDMA- Code Division Multiple Access).

Third generation - 3G
Early 2000s: 3G brought mobile data (e.g. CDMA2000).

Fourth generation - 4G LTE
2010s: 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile broadband.

1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G all led to 5G, which is designed to provide more connectivity than was ever available before.

5G is a unified, more capable air interface. It has been designed with an extended capacity to enable next-generation user experiences, empower new deployment models and deliver new services.

With high speeds, superior reliability and negligible latency, 5G will expand the mobile ecosystem into new realms. 5G will impact every industry, making safer transportation, remote healthcare, precision agriculture, digitized logistics  and more a reality.

Q: How do consumers use 5G?

The average consumer is expected to go from being able to consume 2.3 GB of data per month today to close to 11 GB of data per month on their smartphone in 2022.² This is driven by explosive growth in video traffic as mobile is increasingly becoming the source of media and entertainment, as well as the massive growth in always-connected cloud computing and experiences.

4G completely changed how we consume information. In the past decade we have witnessed leaps and bounds in the mobile app industry around services such as video streaming, ride sharing, food delivery and more.

5G will expand the mobile ecosystem to new industries. This will contribute to cutting-edge user experiences such as boundless extreme reality (XR), seamless IoT capabilities, new enterprise applications, local interactive content and instant cloud access, to name a few.

Q: How fast is 5G?

5G is designed to deliver peak data rates up to 20 Gbps based on IMT-2020 requirements. Qualcomm Technologies’ flagship 5G solutions, the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 and Snapdragon X60 Modem-RF Systems, are designed to achieve up to 7.5 Gbps in downlink peak data rates.

But 5G is about more than just how fast it is. In addition to higher peak data rates, 5G is designed to provide much more network capacity by expanding into new spectrum, such as mmWave.

5G can also deliver much lower latency for a more immediate response and can provide an overall more uniform user experience so that the data rates stay consistently high—even when users are moving around. And the new 5G NR mobile network is backed up by a Gigabit LTE coverage foundation, which can provide ubiquitous Gigabit-class connectivity.

Q: Is 5G available now?

Yes, 5G is already here today, and global operators started launching new 5G networks in early 2019. In 2020, many countries expect nationwide 5G mobile networks. Also, all major Android phone manufacturers are commercializing 5G phones. And soon, even more people may be able to access 5G.

5G has been deployed in 35+ countries and counting. We are seeing much faster rollout and adoption compared with 4G. Consumers are very excited about the high speeds and low latencies. But 5G goes beyond these benefits by also providing the capability for mission-critical services, enhanced mobile broadband and massive IoT. While it is hard to predict when everyone will have access to 5G, we are seeing great momentum of 5G launches in its first year and we expect more countries to launch their 5G networks in 2020 and beyond