Guest Column: Niraj Ruparel, Head of Mobile & Emerging Tech, GroupM India; Head of Voice, WPP India, elaborates why 5G is the future

 5G is the new buzzword - it is the fifth generation of mobile connectivity. 5G will accelerate the move towards a transformed and digitalized ecosystem, where big data combines with the cloud. 5G is the critical link for automation driverless cars and robotics, virtualization and augmentation automation and intelligent machines, distributed computing and artificial intelligence to drive insights from data that is generated by billions of connected devices. 5G is the latest generation of mobile networks and it’s a huge step up from what we have available to us. When you first hear about 5G you learn that it may be 100 times faster than 4G.f. In your future, the internet will be in your contact lens. More data faster 5G means incredibly fast download speed, you should be able to get a whole movie out of your hard drive and ready for viewing in just 10 seconds. Faster reaction times 5G latency promises to take from average 50 milliseconds down to 4 milliseconds and these are razor-sharp reaction speeds. These are going to improve everything from video conferencing to gaming to financial services, which have to be able to buy and sell stocks in superfast time. Better coverage Another difference is that 5G networks will be able to handle more connected devices at any given time and of course that means better coverage. Automated cars Self-driving cars have been in the works for some time now but its 5G that could give them the boost they need to take off. This is because they are going to need to communicate with other cars as well as with smart traffic lights and smart road signs. More advanced AI 5G raises the bar sky-high when it comes to sending and receiving data. This means that in factories robots connected to 5G internet will be able to share information and improve production methods without the need for humans. Robots reading what you are browsing on the internet will be able to target advertising in an even more focused way than they already do. Smart cities 5G also paves the way for intelligent traffic systems that collect data about how much traffic there is and react to it. This means less congestion. Smart cities will be able to regulate things like electricity and energy consumption and use it more efficiently in a more environmentally friendly way. Buildings will be able to regulate heating by themselves and smart billboards will be able to change the images that appear on them to get their messages to target customers more effectively. Virtual workplaces Recently a lot of us have been using teleconferencing services like a Zoom or Skype more than we used to and we know they are not perfect yet with time lags. 5G promises to solve those problems and take teleconferencing to a whole new level and it offers tools for working remotely. Imagine a team of architects or designers being able to view and edit a 3D image in a teleconference, or video editors working together on an HD video file all in real time even though they are all in different places. The speed and the amount of data 5G can deal with will make all of this possible. Telemedicine 5G will allow patients in remote areas not just via a teleconference with doctors over long distances but doctors will also be able to read vital signs and give diagnosis and treatment. It will even make remote surgery possible to do this. Smart health tracking Think about the app on your phone that tracks how many steps you take in a day. This data can then be used for medical research and also by insurance companies as it raises some serious privacy issues questions like if people haven’t been exercising or neglecting their health in any other ways. More advanced gaming 5G networks fortnight lets a hundred players compete at the same time in the same virtual world with 5G shooter games. These could have thousands playing together with lifelike graphics, and we won’t even need to download the games and take up memory on our devices because they will exit entirely on the cloud. Virtual reality Virtual reality technology is used in training for medicine, sports, the military as well as for therapy purposes, and of course gaming. This requires huge amount of data and transferring all that data has captured VR technology pretty expensive. Augmented reality A pair of glasses that superimpose directions over your views of surroundings and can also recommend cafes or other local businesses. When a friend messages you, you can see it on your screen without having to take out any device from your pocket or even look at your wrist google glass. Immersive entertainment Besides gaming and enriched virtual worlds, there are all kinds of opportunities for entertainment that 5G brings along like movies that take place in a 360-degree environment or browsing a 360-degree art gallery or sports events or computers. Create multiple points of view that you can choose from these kinds of entertainment options. These rely on lots of data and 5G is leading the way. Automated vehicles We have already talked about automated cars but when it comes to automated vehicles it could be 5G. Now we are talking about drones that deliver parcels or that track natural disasters in areas that would be dangerous for humans. Airports in the UK are already testing valet parking robots that slide a carrier under your car and lift it slightly off the ground. Tactile internet 5G can carry all kinds of new possibilities that could create new experiences in gaming and for surgeons performing remote operations. Tactile devices could give them the sensation that they are touching the organ that they are operating on. Again, these require lots of information to be transferred in single-digit milliseconds.