Government pledged to spend £40m to enhance 5G in the UK

The government has announced it will be investing £40 million in 5G testbeds in a bid to enhance 5G in the UK. 5G is expected to dramatically out-do the performance of the current 3G and 4G networks. Capable of delivering extremely fast data with estimates between 10 – 50 Gbit/s compared with today’s average 4G download speed of 15 Mbit/s.

The use of a very high frequency spectrum, above 6 GHz, could support a variety of uses including financial trading, gaming and entertainment, holographic projections, and the potential to support very high demands users in busy areas such as city centres. O2 has demonstrated the innovative possibilities of 5G for UK businesses.  Watch the following video for insights into the development of intelligent transport systems, maintenance through augmented reality and the exploration of real-time robotics…

The government has allegedly exceeded its target to make 500MHz of public sector spectrum available for commercial use by 2020, in order to drive sectors such as healthcare, tourist, transport and broadcasting, all of which have been demonstrated to  benefit from the faster download speeds and lower latency offered by 5G.

“As part of our modern Industrial Strategy, we’re making sure that Britain has a telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. – Jeremy Wright, Digital Secretary

Further sectors outlined by the government for 5G use cases include the manufacturing processes of: roads, air, and sea based freight logistics. For further updates on 5G, head back to the CMM blog.