5G data connection to be 65,000 times faster than 4G
Scientists have carried out tests that reveal 5G may be capable of reaching internet data connection speeds as fast as fibre optic.
A ground-breaking one terabit (Tbps) internet data speed was accomplished after researchers from the University of Surrey tested the innovative new 5G data connection. It is believed that this could become available to the public in the UK by 2020.
The head of the 5GIC stated that he hoped to demonstrate the technology to the public in 2018.
The new data connection speed would allow users to browse the web thousands of times faster than with any previous forms of data connection.
It is said that with 5G enabled, it is possible to download a file one hundred times the size of a film in around three seconds - more than 65,000 times quicker than the speed available by the average 4G connection.
The revolutionary new test has excessively beaten down the former record data speeds tested. Samsung’s 7.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) is less than 1% of the Surrey test’s speed.
According to BBC News, 5GIC director Professor Rahim Tafazolli stated: “We have developed 10 more breakthrough technologies and one of them means we can exceed 1Tbps wirelessly. This is the same capacity as fibreoptics but we are doing it wirelessly.”
His team of researchers conducted the tests in a lab environment that reached over a distance of 100 metres.
However, it will not fully be known if the data speeds established in the lab will be able to be transferred into real world conditions. The head researcher said he wanted to carry out more tests around the university’s campus before attempting to go public.
“We want to be the first in the world to show such high speeds,” he said.
The regulator, Ofcom, has been thriving to make 5G accessible to the public. Last month, it called to the phone and data industries for support.
It has said that 5G would utilise a very high-frequency spectrum (above 6 GHz) to include an array of features inclusive of holographic projections.
The regulator speculated that 5G mobiles will have the ability to deliver between 10 and 50Gbps - far faster than the 4G average download speed of 15Megabits per second (Mbps).
Ofcom’s acting chief executive Steve Unger said: “5G must deliver a further step change in the capacity of wireless networks, over and above that currently being delivered by 4G.”
The breakthrough by the 5GIC’s research means predicted 5G data speeds are even closer to becoming a reality. But Prof Tafazolli believes there are still hurdles to overcome before 5G is ready to be brought onto a public platform.
He states: “An important aspect of 5G is how it will support applications in the future. We don’t know what applications will be in use by 2020, or 2030 or 2040 for that matter, but we know they will be highly sensitive to latency.
“We need to bring end-to-end latency down to below one millisecond so that it can enable new technologies and applications that would just not be possible with 4G,” he told V3.”
