5G is Coming, To Use or Not to Use?

Follow Us by Clicking Here

REVIEW 编辑推荐

The remarkable growth of China’s technology and innovation in the international stage has demonstrated the country’s determination to become a global leader in the digital space. Mobile technology, as an innovation enabler, has become a focused area China hopes to command, particularly after its diversion from the global norms in the 3G and 4G era. Committing early in the standardization process will give China an edge to influence internationally and generate notable economic impact domestically.

5G has been put on high priority on the national agenda. The government has drawn up supporting policies under its national strategy including Made in China 2025 and the Five-Year Plan. Its 5G technology development is amongst the world’s largest 5G effort planned by a government.

- The Information Era -

China is one of the pioneers in 5G R&D, which sees the world’s first 5G test being guided and planned by the Government. It has already started the third phase of 5G technology R&D tests, ahead of schedule, where domestic and international companies have joined the field trials, aiming to get pre-commercial 5G products ready. China is aiming to launch commercial 5G service in 2019, bringing one year ahead its original schedule. It will put her among one of the first markets to launch 5G services, along with the US, Korea, Australia, and the UK.

ITU and the 3GPP just completed the standardization of the initial standalone mode for 5GNR in June 2018. This represents the first step toward the road to 5G. While the initial focus was to provide enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and introductory ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) support, more use cases are expected to arise and to be addressed in the future Releases which is expected to be ready by end 2019.

All Chinese operators have announced plans to invest in 5G network deployment from 2019 onwards, and are building out 5G innovation centers and conducting external field tests in major cities with equipment suppliers in preparation for 5G. EY expects China’s 5G capex will amount to RMB1.5 trillion (US$223 billion) between 2019 and 2025.

Nevertheless, demand will build up progressively in the domestic market as it will be limited by the near-term supply of devices, equipment and compelling applications. Operators also will take a gradual approach in network deployment, thus implying a slower 5G take-up path than 4G. Adoption will take off as economies of scale builds up in the market. We expect 5G connections in China will reach 576 million by 2025, representing over 40% of that globally.

China is the world’s largest mobile market with some 1.5 billion subscribers, many holding multiple accounts. In the past, it has been slow to roll out the latest iterations of new mobile communications technology, preferring to wait for it to mature in more advanced Western markets.

The government originally planned to enter the full commercial licensing stage for 5G next year, but is likely to have been inspired to move faster due to increased attention the U.S. is devoting to the technology, industry insiders said. “Both China and the United States regard 5G as an important part of their national strategy,” one said. “American carriers have begun to use 5G commercially, and China is bound to exert its strengths.”

Although Beijing is not one of the five cities where China Mobile conducted scale trials in, it is still the fastest growing city in China Mobile and even nationwide in terms of 5G. “The number of base stations [in Beijing] is currently the largest in the country,” said Deng Wei, deputy director of the Institute of Wireless and Terminal Technology of China Mobile Research Institute. “All three rings have 5G coverage, and I hope it will cover all five rings by September".

▲ Deng Wei, deputy director of the Institute of Wireless and Terminal Technology of China Mobile Research Institute, is talking to the intelligent robot who connected to 5G networks

On May 17th, China Mobile Beijing Company and Beijing-Hong Kong Metro Company jointly announced that Beijing Metro Line 16 has achieved full coverage of mobile 5G signals, which makes it the first subway line in China with full coverage of 5G signals.

In the 4G era, China's 4G base stations accounted for three-quarters of the world. According to Deng Wei's estimation, if the development is smooth, the future number of 5G base stations may even reach twice that of 4G base stations. This also means that in a short period of time, several major operators will face considerable investment pressure.

Facing the latest commercialization process in the beginning of next year, manufacturers such as OPPO, VIVO, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Nubia have launched mobile phones which support 5G networks in the first half of this year. However, the price of these mobile phones is basically more than 10,000RMB, and it’s much more than most users’ budget. Even OPPO Vice President Shen Yiren himself said: "This year's 5G mobile phones are only suitable for early adopters."

5G is the key to unlock other technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT), therefore providing tremendous potential in China that could not be underestimated. The Chinese government has incorporated the IoT in its 13th Five-Year Plan. On the massive IoT opportunities, 5G will see growing importance in the IoT field in the years to come, as there will be more data-intensive and complex IoT deployments where ubiquitous fast mobile connectivity becomes apparent. However, only when 5G coverage reaches scale will the IoT use case make sense in the market.

- The Flip Side -

Who doesn’t want faster, bigger (or smaller), more efficient? Take wireless mobile telecommunications. Our current broadband cellular network platform, 4G (or fourth generation), allows us to transmit data faster than 3G and everything that preceded. We can access information faster now than ever before in history. What more could we want? Oh, yes, transmission speeds powerful enough to accommodate the (rather horrifying) so-called Internet of Things. Which brings us to 5G. Whereas 4G has a fifty-millisecond delay, 5G data transfer will offer a mere one-millisecond delay–we humans won’t notice the difference, but it will permit machines to achieve near-seamless communication. Which in itself may open a whole Pandora’s box of trouble for us – and our planet.

However, here are some numbers to put the dangers of 5G into perspective: as of 2015, there were 308,000 wireless antennas on cell towers and buildings. That’s double the 2002 number. Yet 5G would require exponentially more, smaller ones, placed much closer together, with each emitting bursts of radiofrequency radiation (RFR)–granted, at levels much lower than that of today’s 4G cell towers–that will be much harder to avoid because these towers will be ubiquitous. If we could see the RFR, it would look like a smog that’s everywhere, all the time.

It’s important to know that in 2011, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified RFR as a potential 2B carcinogen and specified that the use of mobile phones could lead to specific forms of brain tumors.

Many studies have associated low-level RFR exposure with a litany of health effects, including:

◍ DNA single and double-strand breaks (which leads to cancer)

◍ Oxidative damage (which leads to tissue deterioration and premature ageing)

◍ Disruption of cell metabolism

◍ Increased blood-brain barrier permeability

◍ Melatonin reduction (leading to insomnia and increasing cancer risks)

◍ Disruption of brain glucose metabolism

Generation of stress proteins (leading to myriad diseases)

As mentioned, the new 5G technology utilizes higher-frequency MMW bands, which give off the same dose of radiation as airport scanners. The effects of this radiation on public health have yet to undergo the rigours of long-term testing. Adoption of 5G will mean more signals carrying more energy through the high-frequency spectrum, with more transmitters located closer to people’s homes and workplaces–basically a lot more (and more potent) RFR flying around us. It’s no wonder that apprehension exists over potential risks, to both human and environmental health.

But what’s also important to note here is that the danger of 5G technology can not only have a profound impact on human health, but on the health of all living organisms it touches, including plants, as we shall see.

Equally disturbing, 5G technology puts environmental health at risk in a number of ways. First, MMWs may pose a serious threat to plant health. Second, the 5G infrastructure would pose a threat to our planet’s atmosphere. Third, 5G will potentially threaten natural ecosystems.

So overall, here comes the question, will you use 5G?

Sources:

https://eluxemagazine.com/magazine/dangers-of-5g/

https://www.ey.com/cn/en/industries/telecommunications/ey-china-is-poised-to-win-the-5g-race

https://www.electricsense.com/12399/5g-radiation-dangers/ 

 MORE

 If you like this post, don't hesitate to repost! 

 如果你喜欢这条微信, 那就转发给你的朋友们吧! 

 You Might Also Like 

Follow MORE's WeChat to find out 

what's going on around town 长按二维码关注我们

| CONTACT US 联系我们 |

Advertisement Cooperation

广 告 合 作

 WeChat: Hangzhouvian

QQ:511560694

TEL: [phone]

Emails: [e-mail]

Tell Us About A Good Place

爆 料 一 个 好 地 方

 WeChat: Hangzhouvian