5G speed | Compare 5G vs 4G | How many countries have 5g networks?
5g speed & latency are the most significant features offering new enterprise revenue models and business opportunities. Cellular networks revolutionized from 3g to 4g LTE with the strong demand for mobile broadband. 4g speed paved the way for many social apps like YouTube, Facebook, and OTT streaming apps like Netflix, Hotstar, Prime, etc. Currently, there are more than 40 countries with tested & trialed 5g networks across the world.
Difference between 4G and 5G network:
5g technology is expected to be much faster than 4g, offering higher broadband speed (throughput), lower latency & much higher bandwidth.
Speed of 5G
Data speed is the most common differentiator between 4G & 5G.
The 4G top speed can reach up to 100Mbps but its real-world speed is only up to 35Mbps. Now let’s look at the 5G speed:
Peak downlink 5g speed is 20 Gbps
Peak uplink 5g speed is 10 Gbps.
However, the 5G average user experience data rate is ranging between 100 Mbps to a peak of 3 Gbps. overall, it ensures at least 50 Mbps everywhere.
So, How long it takes to download a two hours movie?
Latency 5g
Latency is a measure of time that a data packet takes to travel between two points. Key 5g services like remote surgery, mission-critical robots, self-driving cars, etc. are built on the 5g ultra-low and reliable services.
4G networks latency is approx 50 milliseconds (ms) whereas,
5G URLLC (ultra-reliable and low latency) latency is only 0.5 ms.
And the eMBB (Enhanced broadband) latency is 4 ms
5G Coverage
4G has major issues with low coverage and very low connection density, because of the spectrum capacity.
- Typically 4G antennas can support only 2000 devices per square kilometer.
Even though 5G is in infancy, it can support nearly one million devices (phones, sensors, machines, etc.) per square kilometer.
5G spectrum bands
5G certainly has more spectrum capacity than 4G.
4G spectrum was 600MHz to 2.5GHz which uses a narrow slice.
5G spectrum has two bands:
(i) sub-6GHz: It is suitable for broadband services around densely populated urban areas, catering to the need of consumers, businesses, and industries.
(ii) mmW (millimeter wave): is capable to serve hotspots areas like stadiums, airports where the data rate demand is huge, up to 5Gbps.
5g network countries
Almost more than 400 telco operators across 180 counties have tested or trialed 5g technology. And 70+ 5g commercial networks are there in 40 countries today.
- China: Covering more than 350 cities, China has the largest 5g commercial network. (mostly sub-6GHz spectrum band used in China)
- USA: All 4 major operators had launched the 5g network in the USA by 2020. by (mix of the two spectrum bands sub-6GHz and mmW)
- Europe: 27 operators in 15 countries have launched 5g (mostly sub-6GHz)
- Korea and Japan: Major cities in Japan and Korea are covered by 5g in 2020–21. Here also it’s mostly millimeter wave (mmW) driven deployment.
- Likewise, Middle East, Australia, and South Africa had launched 5G in 2019.
Originally published at https://10minsread.com/technology/
