Australia's Federal Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, Paul Fletcher MP seems pretty pumped about the prospects for 5G.
Next year, the Morrison Government will have hold two auctions to allocate 5G spectrum. First will be one for the allocation for high band 5G spectrum (in the 26 GHz band) in April, and then in the second half of the year low band 5G spectrum (in the 850/900 MHz band) will be allocated.
“Low band spectrum can carry the 5G mobile signal longer distances, and is best for wide coverage indoors and outside," said Minister Fletcher. "The mid band spectrum provides broad coverage and fast speeds and the high band spectrum will allow blazing fast speeds over shorter distances.”
The Minister said 5G is forecast to add up to $2,000 in gross domestic product (GDP) per person after the first decade of the rollout.
“The sooner 5G is deployed, the sooner Australia can secure these benefits,” he stated.
What's So Good About 5G?
In a nutshell, 5G is far faster, lower latency and more robust than the 4G and 3G technology that preceded it. In terms of broadband specifically, you can learn more about 5G here.
5G Broadband Has Been Around For A While
While mention of 5G in the press has really accelerated in the past year, some internet service providers started implementing related technology quite a while back - including Lightning Broadband. The definition of 5G is a little fuzzy and will depend on who you ask, but most of our wireless links already qualify for the 5G label. We kicked off our 5G journey in 2018, rolling out AirFiber 5X HD radio systems at selected towers in our network that have a 1 Gbps+ throughput capability.
Fixed wireless internet based on 5G technology isn't a poor cousin to other connectivity options - the technology truly stacks up, as our many customers will attest to.
... and on a related note, 5G has nothing to do with COVID-19 or any of the other outlandish claims about it negatively impacting health that have been bandied about - but you probably already know that! Unfortunately, it appears some still don't.
