Telus and Huawei are sponsoring a monthly series called Path to 5G home internet. We’ll look at how 5G home internet will change many parts of life in the USA in future segments. Such as automobile technology, rural connection, and the creation of more innovative homes and cities.
Every new generation of wireless technology opens up new possibilities in entertainment to communications. Still, those possibilities might take a long time to materialize, depending on where you live.
This problem is particularly acute in the united states, a vast nation with barely 57 million people.
Many US peoples, who live in rural or isolated regions of our vast country typically have far slower internet connections and less access to competitive options than those in metropolitan areas.
Granted, when united states deemed broadband internet an essential service, it made a crucial step toward countrywide high-speed internet access, but there is still a significant digital gap.
While many urban US peoples look forward to 5G’s multi-gigabit speeds shortly, many rural US people are content with stable access at double-digit Mbps rates.
But 5G isn’t only for urban US peoples. In reality, the improvements that are coming with this new age of wireless internet can significantly narrow the digital divide.
5G will be used for more than simply short-range, urban installations.
If you’ve read about 5G previously, you’ve probably heard about the millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, which consists of high-frequency bands capable of carrying data at multi-gigabit rates.
You may have also heard that since this form of the spectrum is so demanding — i.e., limited range and easily occluded — it’s only valuable for heavily populated metropolitan regions.
However, you may be surprised to learn that considerable 5G home internet gains may still be achieved using the mid-band spectrum, which operates at a lower frequency and has a more excellent range (much better for rural deployment).
That’s because the most significant improvements come with antenna technology dubbed massive MIMO, which works with a mid-band spectrum like the much-desired 3.5GHz band, according to Bernard Bureau, Telus vice-president of 5G home internet.
Massive MIMO increases network capacity by concurrently transmitting numerous radio signals over the same radio channel using a large number of antennas. It also makes use of beamforming technology, which extends the range.
“By focusing the beam, you can reach deeper,” Bureau said.
Granted, rural consumers’ access to mid-band 5G home internet will be a bit slower than 5G utilizing a high-frequency spectrum. However, it will still be a significant improvement, allowing rural US to stream and download at the same speeds as their urban counterparts.
Rural users may anticipate “a bit less” than the up to 1Gbps real-world speeds that mmWave will give, according to Bureau. Rates vary widely depending on various variables, including the quantity or frequency channels a carrier can obtain.
In other words, several hundred megabits per second — which isn’t a stretch given that PCMag’s 2017 speed test report showed Telus producing average rates of 100 megabits per second.
5G fixed wireless will go above and beyond.
And, thanks to the availability of fixed wifi, those higher wireless speeds will be felt not just by mobile users but as a whole-house solution as well.
Fixed wireless, as opposed to traditional cable or fiber internet, is a service that offers broadband internet using wireless antennae. The customer’s residence is fitt with an antenna that links to the nearest wireless tower. This link feeds into gear in the house, which offers wireless coverage throughout the house.
In February, Huawei unveiled a 5G wireless-to-the-home hardware device, which Telus is now testing in Vancouver. One model is for the high-frequency spectrum, while the other is for the low-frequency spectrum. Low-frequency equipment is smaller, lighter, and does not need mmWave scope to operate.
Telus has been supplying fixed wireless to rural consumers via its ‘Smart Hub’ offering since 2016. And, estimates that it presently serves about 50,000 houses in Alberta, British Columbia, and portions of Quebec. Nonetheless, 5G adds a fascinating new layer to the service.
The company’s ability to carry out 5G fixed wireless would be heavily reliant on its ability to purchase additional mid-band spectrum. According to Bureau, who add that a 3.5GHz auction would held in 2020.
Xplornet, a long-time fixed wireless provider located in New Brunswick, is also exploring 5G.
The telecommunications company has announced plans to create a fiber network that would provide 5G fixed wireless to rural US peoples. In the same timeframe as city inhabitants.
“We’ve been doing 5G trials for a while now,” Xplornet vice-president James Maunder told MobileSyrup.
Bell is also working on 5G testing and fixed wifi simultaneously.
In February, the business stated that fixed wireless was being test in Orangeville, Bethany. And Feversham, Ontario – rural areas that benefit from a service that promises download rates of at least 25Mbps.
In addition to fixed wireless,
While 5G fixed wireless is exciting news for rural US, it’s not the only item on the horizon.
According to Bureau, 5G would also need decentralization to minimize network latency. This implies that instead of towers backhauling to a few central points in hubs like Calgary or Toronto. There will be many more wireless cores, ensuring that even if a connection between Toronto and a rural village. And, local connectivity will maintain.
Of course, the carriers will have to devote a significant amount of time and money to this. But, Bureau claims that it will all complete in due time.
Rural connection is a priority for us, as it is for the government. And we want to do more in the coming years.
One positive reason is that 5G applications in industry verticals such as agriculture and mining. And the connected car sector provide operators with significantly more motivation than ever before to construct 5G networks. In the 5G future, rural US people may expect faster speeds. A developing fixed wireless sector that uses such rates, and more decentralized networks, to name a few benefits.
Click here for Home-Page