You might have noticed that sometimes, when you're playing mobile games or making a video call, the picture suddenly freezes (卡顿) because the network speed is too slow. When you try to download a movie on your phone, it seems to take forever.
These annoying things will soon become things of the past, as China just issued commercial licenses (发放商业牌照) for 5G networks on June 6. This means that China's telecommunications (电信) companies will be able to offer 5G network speeds for mobile phone users.
The "G" stands for generation (代). 1G let us talk to each other, 2G let us send messages, 3G gave us mobile data and Internet, and 4G made all of these things faster. So what will 5G bring?
First of all, 5G is so fast that it will allow us to download an entire HD movie in a second. The delay (延时) between sending and receiving data will be shortened. Now, 4G takes about 100 to 200 milliseconds (毫秒), while humans have a reaction time of about 200 to 300 milliseconds. But 5G will get the delay down to 1 millisecond or less, which is almost real-time.
Because of this increase in speed, it will possible to create and use new kinds of technology. Robots will be used to do operations because doctors will be able to control them from somewhere else without any delay. Self-driving cars will be able to drive more safely because they can smoothly communicate with other cars, traffic lights and road sensors (传感器). 5G also makes the Internet of Things (IOT, 物联网) possible.
All in all, 5G will shape every type of technology that it touches. And you won't have to wait too long for that to happen.
