5G Technology in Pakistan

 5G Technology

On 22 August 2019 Zong hosted an event. 

Where they did a speed test for 5G technology. 

Zong shared this speed test on Twitter as well and with this speed test, Zong became the first network that had done a speed test for 5G services ever. 

But what is 5G technology after all?

What else do you need to use it?

What are its uses?

How can it affect your lifestyle?

5G stands for 5th Generation. This means it is the 5th Generation of wireless technology. The first generation was of Analogue Cellular. Where there were huge phones in the beginning and people used to pull the antenna band out and it used to stand by itself. After that, came 2G in which we saw GSM, and CDMA technologies. If we talk based on the internet, there was GPRS and edge technology in it. After that, we saw 3G technology, which means the third generation. In 3G, our speed improved a little from 200 kbps to a few Mbps. We witnessed the mobile broadband concept for the first time here. We saw the concept of video streaming on mobile too. Then after a little time, we went from 3G to 4G which was the 4th Generation where we saw LTE in which we went from a few Mbps to a few hundred Mbps speed.  Now, finally, 5G technology has arrived which is the 5th generation where we will see higher bandwidths, From tens or hundreds of megabits to gigabit speeds, meaning, we will see thousands of megabits speed. The main difference of 5G technology is in low latency. This means when you do a speed test, and check the ping over there, where the speed comes in mili-seconds, that means that after a request is sent, how fast its feedback or acknowledgment is returned.

Benefits:

The benefit of a 5G technology is that it has higher bandwidths, extremely low latencies, and the capability to serve plenty of devices at the same time. 

How can you benefit from a 5G technology?

What do you need to get it?

And when will it be available in Pakistan?

It's not as simple as buying a 5G SIM, and putting it on phone and it'll start working. To use the 5G technology, you would need a 5G enabled device first of all. There are very few devices in the market right now, that is 5G enabled. And the ones that are, they are very premium flagship kind of devices. And right now, the 5G enabled devices even the cheapest of all would be Rs 1,80,000/- to Rs 2,00,000/- or even more. Once you have a 5G phone, you will need 5G-enabled networks. There are currently no 5G-enabled networks in Pakistan. Even the permission given to Zong by PTA is a very limited kind of permission, permission to test in a very limited area. Commercially, there are no 5G services available in Pakistan right now. And what Zong is offering, is just a test. Which has its importance for sure, but you still have to take it with a pinch of salt. Firstly, the gigabit-speed that is shown is an ideal environment and best-case scenario in a way. In reality, when 5G networks will be implemented in Pakistan, their speeds, at least in the beginning, would be much lower than this. 

It might as well increase with time. Along with that, the latency shown in the Zong test is quite high too. In reality, when 5G technology would be implemented completely, then low latency would be a great part of it. Along with it, to implement the 5G technology in Pakistan, the government would allot frequency spectrums like we saw in 4G a few years back. Where 4G spectrum auctions were held and then every network bought some quantity of the spectrum and then implemented their 4G networks on it. Similarly, for 5G technology as well different spectrums would be registered and the government will probably auction these spectrums and then that whole hardware would be placed in which 5G base stations or feeders they will be planted throughout the country. And then 5G would be implemented in Pakistan. And according to me, this would take a few years at least. If we talk about the United States, the 5G technology is on a testing stage there as well. In a certain few cities, and in certain areas of those cities, 5G is implemented. Therefore, expect 2-4 years are nothing before we see 5G technology in full swing. If we talk about speeds would mean that your video streaming would get faster. If you download movies on Netflix, they will download very quickly. Along with it, about game streaming, for example, Google Stadia and other platforms like that, they will catch quick pace as well. If we talk about slightly bigger effects along with it, 5G technology will have a massive difference on Home broadband as well because right now, home broadband is limited with fiber optics and things like that.

So you wouldn't need a physical cable, a feeder or base station would be implanted in your area

and it will serve hundreds of megabits of bandwidths throughout your region. And with that, the speeds of home broadband and their bandwidths would increase greatly. But if we talk about more profound effects, 'Profound effect' in Urdu... If we talk about more profound effects, There are many industries where the higher speed of 5G technology but more importantly, its lower latency will have a great benefit. Many people are talking about it that it will have a great benefit on Medical Field,

where, due to low latency, remotely doctors would be able to control surgical equipment or surgical robots. And in real-time, they could get Video Link or Haptic Feedback. By which they will be able to perform surgical procedures. Along with that, self+driving cars will have a great benefit from 5G,

where you will see that one car, with hundreds or thousands of other cars through a real-time low latency network and with smart roads, would be communicating and guiding itself. So, Self Driving cars are a big thing. Apart from this, drones could work to their full potentials. Where remotely, you could automatically control tons of drones and can get High Definition Video Feels through them.

Similarly, in the field of education, in the field of transportation, and in many other fields 5G Technology's higher bandwidth, lower latency, and the ability to serve many devices simultaneously,

you will notice many improvements. But still, let's come back to 2019, right now, 5G Technology is in its very early stage. Props to Zong, that they performed its first speed test in Pakistan. It is definitely a landmark moment. But still, for the 5G technology to come to Pakistan, there is little time right now.

Indeed, we have our eyes on it.

Thank you guys for being with me till the end of the blog. See you in the next blog stay blessed. 

JazakALLAH!