5G and 6G
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5G refers to the fifth generation of cellular wireless communication technologies.
Key features of 5G technology are:
- Higher Speed (data rates): Peak internet speeds on 5G could touch 20 Gbps compared to 100 Mbps in 4G.
- Lower latency: Latency in 4G is between 10 and 100 milliseconds and in 5G it is expected to be under 1 ns.
- Greater network stability to ensure that business critical mobile functions do not go offline and the speed necessary to give employees a fully equipped virtual office almost anywhere.
- Device Intelligence: Unlike 4G, 5G has the capability to differentiate between fixed and mobile devices. It uses cognitive radio techniques to identify each device and offer the most appropriate delivery channel. This will allow a much more customized internet connection – according to device capability and local reception environment.
Other technical features of 5G
- 5G will use higher frequencies of wireless spectrum (~ 30 GHz to 300 GHz) range when compared to 4G which uses frequencies below 6 GHz.
- Higher Frequency -> Huge quantity of data; Shorter Wavelength -> smaller antenna sizes.
- Building on the multiplexing technology of its predecessor, 5G ushers in a new standard called 5G New Radio (NR), which uses the best capabilities of LTE. 5G NR will enable increased energy savings for connected devices and enhance connectivity.
- These frequencies are highly directional and thus can be used right next to other wireless signals without causing interference.
- Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections for wireless sensors
- Spectral efficiency significantly enhanced compared to 4G
- Improved Coverage
- Enhanced signal efficiency
The Ultra-fast speed of 5G indeed holds the promise of revolutionary changes in various sectors:
- Upgraded Mobile Services
Economic Benefits
According to A.J. Paulraj Committee report, the overall impact of 5G on Indian economy can be upto $1 trillion by 2035. It will help business especially those that operate outside the reach of broadband networks or suffer from slow fixed line services.
5G would shape Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0
- Fast Rural connectivity: Cost of putting up mobile data will be lower than fiber optics cable, 5G will help rural areas get faster connectivity. It will have huge positive impact on health, education, and other services in rural areas.
- Further, with IOT precision agriculture becomes more effective.
- Better Health services: Telemedicine will be possible; Remote surgeries more effective due to lower latency.
- Ed-tech sector will be able to reach more people and provide education in nooks and corners of the country.
- Better disaster management – Faster image transfers by drones – Faster Processing.
- Driverless cars – large number of sensors in these cars will generate massive amount of data that will need to be communicated to other vehicles.
- Internet of Things (IoT): 5G is considered backbone of IoT due to its high data rate, reduced end-to-end latency and improved coverage.
- Better Energy management -> A smart network identifies the grid connectivity issues and takes appropriate action in real time by analyzing the data that originates from the two way communication infrastructure.
- Better Law and Order Services -> 5G adoption would ensure the best performance of police devices such as body cams, facial recognition technology, automatic number-plate recognition, drones and CCTVs.
Other potential uses
- Download time for a high-definition full-length movie will be seconds, not minutes
- It will allow simultaneous language translation between people attending the teleconference.
Launch of 5G in India:
- In India, 5G services were launched in Oct 2022 in select cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru etc.
- The country is expected to have 150 million 5G users by the end of 2024 (which is only a fraction of the current 1.4 billion)
- However, the numbers will expand significantly once the 5G network is progressively deployed in tier-2 and tier-3 geographies.
Concerns which 5G may create:
5G and Cyber Threat Landscape: Deploying 5G when we have a shaky cyber security foundation is like erecting a structure on soft sand.
- Previous networks were hardware based. So, India could practice cyber hygiene. But 5G is a software-defined digital routing. This makes it susceptible to cyber threats such as botnet attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) overloads.
- Further, 5G network will bring about a wider proliferation of IoT-enabled devices. This magnifies the threat canvas, as these devices will offer new malware and botnet distribution vectors.
Geopolitical issues: Emerging threats from China and Countering it: China has taken a lead in the development of 5G, and Chinese telecom companies are aggressively penetrating new markets by commercializing the technology and offering it at cheaper rates than their competitors. This has raised concerns that China may be strategically pushing these companies to capture global markets and therefore, may be establishing an eavesdropping network.
Therefore, in Nov 2022, the US banned sale and import of new communication equipment from five Chinese companies.
There have been efforts to bring together like-minded and leading democratic states to jointly tackle the tech challenge posed by authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia.
- For e.g., former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson floated the idea of D-10, a coalition of ten democracies, to create an alternative supply chain for 5G and other emerging technologies.
- The QUAD too has pledged to advance interoperability and security and work on 5G supplier diversification.
Criminal elements will also have all the benefits like faster and real time coordination.
Privacy Concerns: Unlike 4G, networks running on 5G have a much smaller area of coverage. This can allow precise location tracking of mobile phone or internet users inside and outside, potentially impacting their privacy.
Way Forward:
Focus on cyber security:
- Updated latest technology.
- Organizations connecting to 5G network must be cognizant of the evolving threat landscape and adopt security protocols accordingly.
- A critical component of resilience will be awareness of end-users. Their cyber hygiene – their understanding of safe practices in cyber space – can help them better tackle the threats and protect themselves.
International collaboration with like-minded countries to deal with China’s rise in 5G technology.
Fight new age 5G Crimes:
- First, the police need to be trained so that they recognize new 5G enabled crimes.
- Second, training programs focused on 5G based crimes must be developed. This includes identifying potential scenarios for new types of crimes and their prevention.
- Third, government and telecom companies may think of setting up a 5G crime monitoring task force to monitor and identify new crimes and develop counter measures.
- Fourth, bring changes in laws/rules/ regulations to prevent these kinds of crimes.
- Provide effective regulatory framework to allow fast track growth of 5G technology which will play a crucial role in economic growth of the country.
Conclusion: To sum up, 5G offers new opportunities for digitalization and development, but the technology and network are not secure by design. Therefore, India must have a cyber resilience plan in place.
6G
- Successor of 5G
- Frequency Bands – 95 GHz to 3 THz
- Data rate – Upto 1 TBPS
- Latency < 1 milli seconds
- Traffic Capacity: 1 to 10 Gbps
Application and Advantages (Similar points as 5G)
Challenges for India:
- Low R&D investments
- Terahertz communication are blocked easily by barriers and signal also attenuates easily
Bharat 6G Mission
Aim of 6G service rollout by 2030.
India has also launched a development test bed.
More about the Vision document
Prepared by the Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG) which was set up by Department of Telecommunication in 2021.
Mission divided into two phases:
- Phase 1 (2023-2025): Ideation phase – understand various potentials and risks; test proof the concept
- Phase 2 (2025-2030): Delivering the potential technology solution
Constitution of an apex body to oversee the mission and approve the budget of the mission
Significance of the document:
- Assuming leadership in setting the 6G standards
- Not delaying adoption (as has happened in previous generations)
Ensuring latest technology coming to India in the fastest way possible