5G Thinking丨Please give 5G some tolerance and time

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Recently, 5G has become a hot topic on the Internet, and 5G applications are the first to be discussed. Various analytical articles have emerged one after another. From these articles, we can see that people generally recognize 5G and are eager to get a good "grade" from 5G. What I want to say is that since 5G is the "child" that everyone is paying attention to, please give 5G a little time so that it can realize its "talent" and realize its value. Now I will briefly talk to you about three aspects. I don't want to use high-sounding technical language to explain, but just want to find resonance from historical development and various examples in the form of essays.

1. Why use 5G instead of WiFi?

The discussion on cellular technology and WiFi seems to have never stopped for nearly 20 years. In fact, there is some consensus in the industry that cellular networks are the main ones and WiFi is used as a supplement.

Now WiFi has filled our work and living environment, and everyone is very familiar with WiFi. Then someone asked, WiFi is so cheap, why do we use 5G? Everyone, please be patient, let's take a look at the industry's process of wanting to "correct" WiFi. In fact, in 2004, a wave of wireless city construction was set off, and WiFi networks began to be laid in various cities. my country followed closely, and local governments and the three major operators built WiFi networks in large and medium-sized cities. In the early days, it is undeniable that due to the expensive 3G/4G traffic fees at the time, it did trigger a period of "finding hotspots and using WiFi". But now, think about it, will you still go to a place to find WiFi? If you can only use WiFi in a fixed place, then wouldn't you have much less time to listen to music, watch Douyin, and read gossip? The reason is that WiFi still meets the user experience of fixed scenes and a small number of terminals when accessed. It doesn't work when there are too many people. Think about your experience of using WiFi in a high-speed rail station, and you will feel involved.

Then some people will ask, since it is a fixed scene, then we can use it in industry enterprises, everyone works at the workbench and doesn't move much, this seems to make sense, then let's take a look at what kind of "report card" WiFi has handed in after more than ten years of entering the industry? In the industrial field, everyone reported that WiFi is unstable, often disconnected, and so on. WiFi can only solve some problems in some scenes, and it cannot solve the problems of enterprises with one network. If multiple networks are superimposed in a patched manner, the cost of enterprise network operation and maintenance will increase. Who is willing to wear "patch clothes"? 5G solves these problems very well. It can use one network to solve various applications such as enterprise data collection, video monitoring, remote control, etc., meet various demands of enterprises, and it is stable, reliable, and secure, so more and more enterprises are willing to try to use 5G.

2. The problem of expensive 5G terminals and data traffic

When 3G/4G first came out, this issue seemed to have been discussed, but the Internet was not so developed at that time, and the discussion was limited to a local area. In this way, should we "thank" 4G for bringing up the mobile Internet? When 4G first came out, the terminal and data charges were also relatively expensive. At that time, everyone counted the data traffic on their fingers, fearing that the data traffic would exceed the limit. However, after several years of development, thousand-yuan phones became popular and data traffic became inexhaustible. After 4G was commercialized for several years, NB-IoT came out and directly reduced the chip cost to more than ten yuan. Now 3GPP is also discussing the streamlined 5G chip project. When the streamlined chip comes out, the price of 5G chips is expected to drop to less than 100 yuan. In a few years, more than ten yuan will not be a dream. As for data traffic, the 4G era is the era of data traffic economy, but in the 5G era, the business model between operators and the industry is still under discussion. It can be foreseen that data traffic will no longer be the only choice for cooperation between the two parties. Various business cooperation models may appear in the future. Please do not use the 4G business model to deduce that 5G is not good. Times are still changing.

3. Can 5G applications be developed?

Since 5G was put into commercial use, people's attention to 5G applications has been increasing day by day. People can't wait to see the "killer" applications tomorrow. For some emerging applications, people feel a little disappointed. What I want to tell you is that we should let the bullet fly for a while. When cars first came out, they were not as fast as horse-drawn carriages, nor as comfortable as horse-drawn carriages. If we had stopped the research and development and investment in cars at that time, we would probably still be riding horses to visit relatives and friends. Please be patient with 5G applications and let the "child" move forward. Let's take a look at some "Internet celebrity" 5G applications.

Is cloud AR/VR really going to follow the path of "Little Overlord" back then? Back then, the combination of Little Overlord learning machine and TV became a necessity for games and learning in fixed places. Now cloud AR/VR seems to be for entertainment and learning, but do we really want to limit its use to fixed places? As we all know, WiFi itself does not support good mobility. If WiFi or optical fiber is used to support AR/VR, it can only be applied in fixed places. However, people's work and life paces are accelerating now. How long do we stay at home or in fixed scenes? If it is not possible to access it anytime and anywhere, the market space of AR/VR will be greatly limited. Think about the game industry. The expansion of games on the computer to mobile phones has brought about earth-shaking changes. If there is no 4G, the current game industry would not be so developed. 5G's large bandwidth, low latency, and wide coverage can effectively solve the problems of AR/VR access anytime and anywhere and dizziness, greatly expanding its scope of use. Therefore, 5G and cloud AR/VR are a "good match" and they complement each other.

Both autonomous driving and telemedicine involve safety. We must admit that safety is the most difficult problem to break through in 5G applications. However, technology is developing and the industry is progressing. Let's look at the new energy vehicle industry now. Ten years ago, who would have believed that cars would be manufactured by Internet companies? Did we hear such a voice back then? "A bunch of people who only know IT, who don't even know how to make a car engine, still want to build a company. Do you dare to drive the car they build? Do you dare to sit in it?" How is it now? Tesla, Xiaopeng, etc. have all built cars, and Baidu and Xiaomi have also announced that they will build cars. The relationship between 5G and autonomous driving and telemedicine is actually the same. 5G technical capabilities can support its realization, but there are also some problems, such as poor network coverage in specific scenarios, insufficient network stability, unclear responsibility, etc. However, 5G provides these industries with a feasible option, which will definitely be realized in the end when combined with the development of their own industry technologies. After all, autonomous driving and telemedicine can respectively solve our current real problems such as traffic congestion, driving fatigue, uneven medical resources, and saving treatment time.

To sum it up in one sentence, please give 5G a little more time and let people try 5G more. The development of applications is rhythmic and matures in batches. Perhaps after a few years, we will inadvertently find that 5G has changed our lives and industries, just like 4G has inadvertently changed our lives.