Have you ever experienced such an annoying thing as it took so long to open a web page? You're watching stops every few minutes, which ruined your internet experience. But it could be a thing of the past. On June 3, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that China would issue licenses for the commercialization of 5G. It means major telecom carriers will start to provide 5G services.
The "G" in "5G" refers to the generation of mobile network technologies. 1G let us talk to each other, 2G let us send messages, 3G gave us mobile data and the internet, and 4G made all of these things faster.
Now 5G promises much faster data download and upload speeds, and more stable connections. This means that you will be able to download an entire HD movie in seconds and only experience a short delay between sending and receiving data. For example, when you have a video chant with your friend, there is generally a 100 to 200 milliseconds (毫秒) delay with 4G, but 5G will reduce the delay to 1 millisecond or less, which is almost real time.
With a 5G network, the short delay in information exchange will allow driverless cars to run more safely, as they will be able to communicate in real time and avoid potential dangers. Meanwhile, 5G enabled wearable devices will keep doctors constantly updated on the health status of their patients and warn them immediately if there's something wrong. Besides, VR games will become more popular with 5G. The short delay of 5G will make the games feel even more real.
Though 5G will make our lives more convenient, it will not be perfect. For one thing, 5G will not "travel" far. On 4 networks, you can be 10 kilometers away from the nearest transmission (传输) base and barely lose signal. But 5G will only cover about 300 meters, meaning we will need more transmitters so that we can get signals. And in order to use 5G, we will have to buy new specially, designed for 5G that are currently expensive.
