As Ethio-telecom rolls out its 5G network, you may be wondering what it all really means. What does 5G mean? What does 5G imply for customers? With the availability of 5G, what is now possible?
Ethiopian telecom announced the launch of pre-commercial 5G services in six Addis Ababa mobile stations on May 9, 2022, following the Ethiopian Communication Authority’s temporary 5G Spectrum approval to implement the pre-commercial trial of the service while Huawei Technologies deploys the 5G network.
What does 5G refer to?
The fifth generation of cellular networks, 5G, which began deploying worldwide in 2019 is expected to be one of the fastest wireless technologies ever developed. This is not to be confused with the 5G that you may see on your Wi-Fi router, which refers to your internet network’s 5GHz frequency, as explained by Verizon. 5G wireless technology means faster downloads (imagine downloading up to10 Gb per second) and significant changes to how you do business and interact digitally.
Following 4G networks, 5G is a new global wireless standard. 5G enables a new type of network that is intended to connect virtually everyone and everything, including machines, objects, and devices.
What does 5G imply for customers?
You can expect to be able to do everything you could do with 4G with Ethio telecom 5G, but faster. Forward compatibility, or the ability to handle future services that are currently unavailable, is one of 5G’s distinguishing features.
Ethio telecom’s 5G network, which is described as the fastest speeds (up to 10 Gbps), lowest latency (less than 1 ms), and largest communication capacity (up to 1 million connections per square kilometer), can enable blazing fast speeds in more places, real-time responses, and massive connectivity.
Further, 5G is expected to impact industries’ critical services requiring real-time decisions, manufacturing plants, remote health care, precision agriculture, self-driving vehicles, IoT, and real-time operations by providing such high speeds, superior reliability, and negligible latency.
Mission-critical services that require real-time decisions, manufacturing plants, remote health care, precision agriculture, self-driving vehicles, IoT, and real-time operations will all benefit from 5G.
What is now possible with the availability of 5G?
According to the world’s leading wireless tech innovator, Qualcomm, 5G is primarily used in three types of connected services: enhanced mobile broadband, mission-critical communications, and the vast Internet of Things.
- Enhanced mobile broadband
5G mobile technology can usher in new immersive experiences like VR and AR with faster, more uniform data rates, lower latency, and cheaper cost-per-bit, in addition to making our smartphones better.
- Mission-critical communications
With ultra-reliable, accessible, low-latency networks, 5G can enable new services that can alter sectors, such as remote control of key infrastructure, automobiles, and medical operations.
- Enormous IoT
5G is designed to connect a vast number of embedded sensors in nearly anything by allowing data speeds, power, and mobility to be scaled down, resulting in incredibly lean and low-cost connectivity solutions. A new smartphone that supports 5G is required to connect to a 5G network with a mobile phone.
As part of the pre-commercial trial service, which began in Addis Ababa, Etho-telecom planned to expand its 5G footprint to regional cities, up to 150 sites over the next 12 months. The service’s full commercialization is contingent on the ecosystem’s players’ readiness and demand: customers’ readiness to use the service, the availability of 5G enabled devices and Smartphones, and the need and readiness of enterprises to use the service, according to the telecom’s statement.
Ethio-Telecom had 60.8 million subscribers in the first half of the 2014 Ethiopian fiscal year. Performance increased by 20% year on year, with 58.7 million mobile voice subscribers, 443,000 fixed broadband subscribers, 923,000 subscribers, and 23.8 million data and internet users.
Nevertheless, numerous complaints have been made that Ethio-Telecom’s latest 4G LTE Advanced Network service is not working properly in regional areas, according to various sources.
Despite its age, Ethiopian telecommunications services are among the least developed in the world. Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Ethiopia were reported at 38.71 per 100 people in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators compiled from officially recognized sources and reported by trading economics.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (18 May 2022)
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The opinions expresses here in the post "Things You Should Know About 5G Network & Ethio Telecoms' Pre-commercial Trial" are those of the individua's contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Business Info Ethiopia , BIE Intelligence PLC, its publisher, editor, or any of its other contributors.
