In 2021, Safaricom officially launched its 5G network, becoming the first company to do so in Kenya. 5G is the fifth generation of mobile network technology, designed to significantly improve on the capabilities of its predecessor, 4G LTE. 5G offers significantly higher speeds compared to 4G, enhancing internet experiences, especially for applications like streaming, gaming, and video conferencing. Currently, Safaricom has 780,000 5G users out of 45.98 million customers. In this article, we seek to understand 5G.
So, what is 5G?
5G is the fifth generation of mobile technology, it comes after 2G, 3G and 4G.
Several standards organisations, which form a body known as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. The organisations establish the standards and then develop new technologies such as 5G, 4G, etc.
What is the difference between 5G and its predecessors?
The key things that stand out in 5G are its low latency, better throughput (the amount of data that passes through it), and availability. The network is more efficient, so there is less downtime. Low latency ensures less lag, allowing more data to travel quicker across a network. Due to better throughput, 5G has more information flowing across networks.
What speeds can 5G achieve?
5G can get up to 1Gbps, but for Safaricom, it can reach 700Mbps.
What distinguishes the speeds one can achieve on 5G?
This is differentiated by spectrum availability. Safaricom uses 60 megahertz (MHz). Some countries use 100MHz, so they have more throughput based on that.
MHz is the frequency or rate at which a wave will cycle per second.
Spectrum is the frequency you use to transmit from the base station to the mobile phone. It is like a wave that you use to carry data.
In Kenya, the regulator, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), gives providers the spectrum; it’s upon the provider to determine how they will use it.
Safaricom uses 20MHz on 4G and 40 megahertz on 5G for its 60MHz, which is not comparable to countries that use 100MHz. This is because the bigger the bandwidth of the spectrum, the better the throughput.
How does 5G improve latency and network reliability?
Since Safaricom has more spectrum on 5G compared to 4G, it transmits more data at once on 5G. So, on 4G, a user may have to queue their data so that it’s delivered.
In terms of reliability, it’s the efficiency of the equipment. As the vendors develop designs for the future, they always improve on the equipment that they use in the older models.
Which technologies enable 5G?
Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is a feature or enhancement of 5G. Although it is available on 4G, it is dominantly on 5G. It is an antenna array that uses transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) antennas.
On massive MIMO, 5G has 32T antennas and 32R antennas, which means you are transmitting 32 streams and receiving 32. 4G, on the other hand, has four transmit antennas and four receive antennas.
What are the roles of millimetre waves, small cells, and Massive MIMO in 5G?
Millimetre waves are one of the bigger drivers of 5G, and they are important because Safaricom operates in the MHz spectrum.
Safaricom’s spectrum has a low band, a mid band, and a high band. These millimetre waves are more on the high band, meaning your frequency is higher, which translates to better throughput.
You then have small cells, which are low-powered cellular radio access nodes (or short-range wireless base stations). These can handle high data rates for individual users, providing a higher bandwidth signal and extending coverage for more users. In 5G, since your coverage is smaller, you need more small cells to densify compared to 4G or 3G, resulting in better throughput and better latency.
How does 5G handle spectrum usage compared to 4G?
5G has a higher spectrum efficiency. As the technologies evolved from 2G to 4G, the spectrum efficiency became better on the higher technologies, meaning that on the same frequency, you would handle more customers and subscribers compared to a lower technology. So, on 4G, for example, if you are using 20MHz for the same throughput, you will handle more on 5G.
How is 5G deployed?
Safaricom’s 5G deployment is referred to as non-standalone, meaning that most of the changes in deploying it are on the radio network. So, the techco deployed 5G equipment on the existing base stations.
What are the primary use cases for 5G?
Currently, in Kenya, 5G has two use cases.
You can use it for surfing on a 5G-ready device, and there is fixed wireless access, where 5G enables users to have fibre-like throughput via fixed wireless access customer-provided equipment(CPE). So, instead of having fibre physically connected to your home, you can get CPE.
An example of a 5G use case in Kenya is during the Wildebeest migration in the Maasai Mara. The CGTN TV station live-streamed the migration on YouTube for its viewers.
Related: 5G Internet for Business
In other countries, such as China, 5G is being used in mining, factories, and shipping.
Due to low latency and high throughput, they use fixed wireless 5G instead of fibre, creating a private network to communicate.
In factories, using 5G instead of fibre allows industrial automation, where you can change your production lines faster. Also, if you have a SIM card collecting all the data in the factory, you can learn what to do in the future.
In shipping, ships are connected to the Internet of Things(IoT) using SIM cards so that they can be tracked whenever they sail. The data recovery process is smooth in case of any problems.
Also, 5G is used in self-driving cars and drones that deliver food across China.
In healthcare, 5G has been used in hospitals during surgeries, where robots can operate on humans because of the low latency. A surgeon can operate from another city, so the robots get the information and operate.
What challenges do carriers face in rolling out the 5G network?
Cost. Rolling out 5G is more expensive than rolling out 3G. At Safaricom, the cost of rolling out 5G is four times higher than what it would have used to upgrade a site from 3G to 4G.
Additionally, not all devices are 5G-ready, meaning consumers need to upgrade to 5G-compatible devices to take advantage of the network.
Are there any health concerns related to 5G?
No, the transmission used in 4G is the same as 5G.
As time passes, the full potential of 5G in Kenya will likely unfold as more infrastructure is deployed and the adoption of 5G-enabled devices increases.
