The excitement of 5G has been an unwavering hot topic amongst journalists, developers, and users. You might have heard all of the big talk, the way 5G will revolutionise the tech industry but what does it mean if you’re a plain ol’ joe running your medium-sized business? Read on to find out what 5G is and how your business can benefit from the next tech revolution.
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What is 5G?
5G is the next stage of network development, 4G being the current network. The G stands for generation, so the network is now in its 5th generation.
By now 5G has reached most users worldwide with only a few countries still going through the phased roll-out, the UK being one of those countries. Despite its availability worldwide, 5G is not yet comprehensive enough for users to no longer have to rely on 4G but that does not mean that business owners cannot plan for its arrival.
What you can look forward to with 5G
- Speed – Do you remember the switch from 3G to 4G? To maximise the quality of your website speed, we recommend making sure you have the best website host that can complement your 5G enhanced website, to find the best hosting service for your check MangoMatter
- Less Delays – 5G will decrease the chances of delays. Currently, 4G networks will experience a latency of 40-50 milliseconds. With 5G, users can expect a latency of 1 millisecond or less.
Making the most of 5G with your website
Although 5G is not completely available to all networks in the UK until 2020, getting your website ready for 5G and users that already have access to the network should be on your business growth to-do list.
There is a sort of “you snooze you lose” aspect of being one of the first to incorporate features that come with the benefit of 5G, boasting increased market share and better customer. In other words, enhancing your website for 5G can put you ahead of your competitors.
High-Quality Video – If 4K video is something you have wanted to use on your website, now is your chance. 5G has the ability to carry high-resolution videos without delaying loading times and depreciating quality. This is great news since 4K video is already at our fingertips with the latest mobile handsets now coming with 4K video. If you haven’t got the budget for a videographer, you can easily create high-quality videos with your iPhone or Android device.
Augmented Reality – Depending on your business, the arrival of 5G presents business owners with the opportunity to get creative with augmented reality. Since AR software combines artificial elements with real images, you can truly heighten your user experience with a bit of creative thought.
Dulux Paint uses this already with their paint app which allows users to take a picture of a room in their own home, upload it to the app and change the colours of their walls. So you can test out paint colours without having to buy tester pots.
You could also use AR if your business is kitchens and bathrooms fitting, giving customers a way to re-design their kitchens without having to leave their homes.
Interactive Advertising – This is quite an exciting change in advertising since slow loading has seen a rise in the use of ad-blockers. Experts, in fact, have predicted that we will see a decrease in ad-blockers with 5G in place.
If this does happen, the chance to run exciting and creative advertising campaigns is something business owners should look into. During the height of the Presidential campaign, the Google search term “Move to Canada” spiked, Spotify capitalised on this with a simple “Moving to Canda” ad on their app that allowed Spotify users to “Canadify” their playlists with music from Canada.
Downsides of a gradual roll-out
With the arrival of 5G, business owners are eager to get their websites up to date and ready for the 5G revolution. While the pros of 5G are exciting, the rollout does present some challenges for business websites.
Until 5G is fully up and running, there will be many cases of areas where there is a dropout of 5G due to a weak connection, this will revert users networks back to 4G and means that websites may run slower.
To combat this issue you must ensure that the quality of your website is good for both 4G and 5G users alike. For example, you might have 4k high res videos on your website, you can make it 4G compatible by turning off autoplay, which will give the website more bandwidth to load quickly and in the best quality. find the best hosting service for you, check MangoMatter for a comprehensive list.
