With the power to change the world, here’s why the US and China are fighting over our 5G future
- Some experts argue 5G will change the way we live forever, powering a new data-driven industrial revolution
- China realises that the advent of 5G is its chance to get out in front for the first time in the development of wireless communications technology
This is the first part in a series by the SCMP analysing the likely impact of 5G wireless technology on the way we live and work.
You know it must be nothing short of transformational when Washington goes on the offensive over Beijing getting ahead in a telecommunications standard.
But what is this new 5G technology and why has it got the world’s two biggest economies at each other’s throats?
Let’s just say it’s a lot more important than allowing you to download the latest high-definition episode of Game of Thrones on your smartphone in seconds. According to some experts, 5G could change the way we live forever.
Simply put, 5G means faster internet connections with huge capacity. 5G wireless networks will provide the connectivity backbone for a host of industrial “Internet of Things” applications that work on big data, such as AI-powered manufacturing and smart city processes and even the traffic infrastructure for a world where driverless cars are the norm.
“5G is a real revolution. Connectivity will become a platform and no longer a pipeline … [making it] possible to get everything online all the time and all the applications up into the cloud,” said Ken Hu, Huawei's rotating chairman at the company's analyst summit this week.
