The next generation of cellular communications, 5G, is live, albeit in limited cities in just a handful of countries. While the technology is in its infancy, this isn’t stopping companies from already looking ahead to what 5G could possibly improve in industries beyond just smartphones.
The hope is that 5G will turn around the struggling smartphone market that has seen three years of declining shipments. But because of the low latency and faster download speeds that 5G will afford (eventually up to 10 times that of 4G LTE), technology vendors are looking to use those features to upgrade current technologies or make them perform tasks never before possible.
Improved emergency services
Companies and governments in both South Korea and the U.S. are exploring how 5G can be used to help improve response times for emergency first responders.
In the U.S., Verizon is working with startups and other companies in its 5G First Responder Lab, an incubator for companies to develop new concepts based on 5G communications.
