Home ›› 10 Dec 2021 ›› Opinion
The whole world is gearing up to embrace 5G. Market mavens have already started chanting the benefits of 5G. Especially the business leaders and telecom experts feel that tapping into the potentiality of 5G is a prerequisite for the economies that want to cash in on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Well, whether it will bring any positive impacts for the last-mile customers is not really a worthy thing to talk about as people in the remote areas are not even in a position to reap the benefits of 4G yet. Rather, we need to consider adoption of this advanced technology from an industrial point of view.
According to a white paper, 68 countries around the world have rolled out 5G network. Bangladesh is also waiting eagerly for that auspicious moment as preparations are going on in full swing to officially launch 5G in our country. State-owned mobile operator Teletalk will launch 5G on a trial basis on 12 December. Teletalk has been conditionally allotted 60 megahertz (MHz) spectrum to launch 5G on a trial basis by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). When Bangladesh is all prepared to roll out 5G, it is important to understand the greater significance of this advanced technology and the implications it bears for the industries and businesses.
5G technology is expected to bring about revolutionary changes in the health sector. Experts feel that many complicated things related to medical science can easily be performed with the introduction of 5G networks. Especially, there will be significant changes in the surgery system and remote healthcare facilities. Once 5G network is rolled out everywhere in the country, people living in the rural areas will not have to take the trouble of coming to the capital for every serious treatment as it will be possible then to perform complicated surgeries through advanced technologies even from remote areas. Moreover, performing simultaneous surgeries will be a become a reality. In the developed countries, robot-assisted one-to-two simultaneous surgery has already been done using innovations offered by 5G technology, which is a distant reality in our country as well.
Bangladesh is still an agrarian economy. If 5G can be made available to the farmers, it will make their lives more convenient and their agricultural activities easier. 5G can bring in new innovations like farming drones and driverless harvesting trucks in future, both of which has great implications for our agricultural sector. As keeping an eye on the crop fields during monsoon season and amidst adverse weather is quite a difficult task, such innovations can open up new windows of possibilities for the hard-working farmers of our country. These technological amenities will increase efficiency and production rates in the agricultural sector.
Introduction of 5G can also yield something good for the transportation sector. Our country is counting huge losses due to inefficient traffic management system. According to information provided by Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the estimated amount of economic loss due to traffic gridlocks is around Tk 560 billion annually. 5G can show us the way forward in this regard as it will be possible to analyze data in real-time, which will help the authorities concerned to control traffic in a more organized manner.
Most importantly, 5G will result in digital innovations across the industries across the industries. Things like Cloud, IoT (Internet of Things), Augmented Reality and AI-assisted technology will change the face of productions forever in the industries and increase the efficiency of handling goods manifolds. The scope of error will get reduced to a great extent.
On the other hand, 5G will shape up the media and entertainment industry in a new way by accelerating the commendable growth in this sector. The current market value of this industry is around $170 billion globally and experts opine that this sector has the potentiality to reach around $420 billion in 2028 if 5G technology is utilized properly and fully by the economies around the world. Moreover, from a viewer’s point of view, this technology will change the ways we experience contents. With the introduction of advanced functions of Virtual reality or VR, it will be possible to access content using sensorial dimension. The gamers will be able to enjoy gaming with lower latency rate and unlimited streaming. When the industry will be vibrant, more opportunities will pop up for the start-ups and tech giants as entertainment seekers will lean towards real and virtual reality apps.
With so many things to explore, 5G could really turn into a gamechanger for a developing country like Bangladesh. But, to turn the tables in favor of us, Bangladesh needs to go ahead with a concrete plan. Rolling out this technology on an experimental basis is not enough, rather we must devise a proper plan about how to gradually spread this network throughout the country so that every person can access 5G and enjoy the benefits. To do so, we need proper infrastructural facilities including higher spectrum allocation to ensure Quality of Services (QoS).
It goes without saying that 5G technology will change the pattern of connectivity and industry applications in the long run. This is the right time for Bangladesh to analyze the greater implications of this technology as we are going through digital transformation. At a time when the whole world is getting more and more reliant on technological innovations, 5G could herald the beginning of a new era defined by cutting-edge technologies and open new horizons.
The writer is a communications professional. He can be contacted at malammohabbat@gmail.com
