What to Expect When 5G Technology Rolls Out

When it comes to our smartphones, it seems like we just got used to 4G. But, as is always the case with technology, something newer and better is just around the corner. Here comes 5G.

Wireless carriers are expected to start rolling out 5G, or fifth-generation wireless connectivity, within the next two years. International standards are being finalized, and tests are happening around the globe.

In Canada, the three biggest telecoms — Bell, Rogers and Telus — are getting their networks ready. To support 5G technology, the federal government has scheduled an auction of public airwaves for 2020.

5G is expected to deliver a host of new benefits and capabilities, but, as per another of technology's truisms, it could also provoke new issues.

On the plus side, wireless users are going to see faster speeds. In simulated 5G tests earlier this year, for example, chipmaker Qualcomm demonstrated download and browsing speeds were seven to 23-times faster.

Perhaps more importantly, 5G is expected to deliver ultra-low latency — an arcane networking term that refers to response times between devices on either end of a communication. 5G's latency could be as low as one to two milliseconds, much shorter than 4G's 50-millisecond average.

In real-world terms, that means devices will connect instantaneously, a particularly important capability when it comes to areas such as gaming, transportation and medicine.

Traffic systems are expected to be able to communicate with autonomous cars in real time, while surgeons will be able to operate remotely through robots. Neither situation can tolerate even a small lag, which is why 5G's low latency will be so important.

5G is also going to better enable network slicing, or the carving off of certain portions of the wireless pipeline for specific applications so that they operate more efficiently. However, this is where issues could arise.

Carriers will receive few objections to dedicating chunks of their networks to applications that can't tolerate latency, such as traffic and surgery, but they are also likely to test the waters with less-important implementations.

Arguments over net neutrality — the principal that internet service providers shouldn't interfere with or manipulate the traffic that flows over their networks, especially for their own interests — are sure to follow.

Net neutrality proponents fear that carriers, armed with the ability to better segment internet traffic, will do just that. Carriers could theoretically demand higher fees from video-streaming sites and other video applications in exchange for faster transmission, or slow them down.

In February 2018, Ericsson chief executive Börje Ekholm fuelled those fears by saying, "The principle of net neutrality is not to discriminate [against], throttle or degrade based on content, but not all traffic is created equally and we don't believe this will work in the 5G future," he said. "There will be a need for a regulatory regime that allows service providers to create services that are differentiated based on user experience."

A number of countries have enacted regulations to protect net neutrality. Canada has been especially strong in its support, with the House of Commons unanimously voicing its support in a recent vote. U.S. regulators, on the other hand, recently revoked net neutrality protections.

5G deployment is rapidly approaching. The new technology is expected to deliver big improvements in wireless connectivity. But at the very least, it's also going to spark new arguments over how neutral wireless providers must be as the internet continues to evolve.