Introduction

There have been revolutionary eras of development and industrialization throughout history, but none has had the same influence on the global economy and industry as the expansion of mobile broadband and digitalization. These digital technologies have the potential to change companies and society as a whole, propelling them on an unparalleled growth path.

5G is expected to be an important factor in every day-to-day life and many sectors including digital financial services through devices such as wearables and IoT.

5G-the driving force

Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) are one of the compelling industries in this Digital Revolution, and the sector's concentration on broadband and approaching technical change to 5G is predicted to act as the 'Catalyst.' This technology transition is expected to create chances for digitalization through the introduction of new services and products, new value chain intermediates, and higher production efficiency across industrial verticals. While 4G was a significant technological advancement over 3G, 5G is primarily concentrated on gradual improvements to current Long Term Evolution (LTE) tech, allowing organisations to develop their LTE networks. When operators deploy these enhancements on LTE, new service dimensions open up

The shift is natural with a stepwise strategy, and telecoms are already on their way to 5G. In comparison to 4G, 5G networks have increased high data rates, bandwidth, reduced latency, and more massive connectivity, which should result in a better user experience.

As more operators see the value and promise of 5G, the number of companies developing and investing in 5G is rapidly increasing.

As per the GSA-16th Feb Report, in Jan 2022, the number of announced 5G devices rose by 1.5 percent to 1,276 devices. Of these, 873 are believed to be commercially available, accounting for 68.4 percent of all 5G devices announced. The number of commercial 5G devices has increased by 15.6 percent over the previous quarter.

Mitigation of current limitations with 5G

There are many limitations with the current network, which 5G will surely mitigate. They are:

• 5G is predicted to have a data rate of roughly 10 Gbps. With such high speeds, 5G will not only deliver a high-quality user experience but will also redefine the mobility information/OTT content accessible on the internet.
• The 5G network is expected to have a lag of less than 1 millisecond. As a result, 5G combined with IoT will be the popular option in domains such as automotive, medical, and production.
• Frequencies ranging from 30-300 GHz are planned to be used in 5G, resulting in increased magnitude, bandwidth expandability, and less interference.
• The processing capacity of smartphones will fundamentally shift to the mobile edge with the advent of 5G, resulting in mobile’s longer battery life than now.
• Operators will allocate network resources based on the complexity of client requirements, with 5G services based on logically distinct, self-contained, autonomous, and encrypted segments of the network, focusing on various services.

Revolution of efficiency by 5G technology

There are five main units, by which 5G will bring efficiency at every place. These five units are:

• Cloud: 5G tech will be extremely beneficial to the cloud computing industry. This is because cloud-based technology innovations are more efficient. With its low to zero latency, 5G increases that synergy, resulting in better connections.
• Core Network: As specified by Third Generation Partnership Project, the revolutionary 5G core employs a cloud-aligned, service-based architecture that encompasses all 5G services and interfaces, including authentication, encryption, session management, and traffic aggregation from end devices.
• Access Network: As cellular technology has progressed to 5G, radio access networks have developed as well. Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, broad-spectrum bandwidths, multi-band carrier aggregation, and other features are now available in RANs. These revolutionary upcoming RANs will also help to achieve the reduced latency that makes 5G very strong.
• Wireless Technology: 5G is a wireless technology and is designed to provide multi-gigabit per second peak data rates, zero latency, more authenticity, huge network volume, widespread availability, as well as a more uniform user experience to a larger number of users. Higher performance and efficiency enable users to have a new experience.
• Smart Device: 5G unique elements and characteristics will have a favourable influence on digital experiences and smart cities. It guarantees exceptionally short or zero latency periods and the possibility to interconnect several digital devices simultaneously, in addition to a faster upload and download speed. As a result, 5G has a higher device density.

Impact of 5G tech transformation on Financial Services

With features like Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-reliable & Low Latency Communications (URLLC), 5G will transform industries like Agriculture, Automotive, Energy & Utilities, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Media & Entertainment, Financial Services, etc.

Let’s discuss Financial Services in detail as banks' digitalization plans to double down on mobile will be accelerated by 5G technology. 5G will improvise financial institutions in the following ways:

• A fast speed of 5G will allow users to conduct transactions much more quickly and reliably.
• Wearables in combination with biometrics facilitated through 5G will provide a rich user experience along with more security.
• Fraud prevention software with a 5G connection will have more information/data to deal with and will be able to work more efficiently.
• With 5G speed, there will be faster data transfer, which implies more frictionless transactions and processing, like performing a credit check, executing a transaction, making a deal, or transferring cash.
• With the aggressive expansion of Fintech’s and innovations using various smart devices along with 5G, banks will keep pace by expanding BaaS to facilitate those innovations.
• 5G will foster higher acceptance of apps in this sector, such as utilising phones as wallets or wirelessly paying for products using gadgets like smartwatches.
• 5G will give more enriched data which will help financial institutions to bring more personalized products and services through technologies such as AI and ML
• 5G will improve banking in locations where physical banks aren't available.

Conclusion

As per Estel Technologies, there is a sense of excitement and immediacy about the coming of 5G globally, where it has not come till now. Various sectors will improve and evolve with the inclusion of 5G. Due to 5G, life along with business will become easier and more efficient. Data-driven solutions will come into more limelight and impact positively.

5G architecture is well equipped to enable a large-scale installation of low-latency, huge IoT across all industries. Massive machine-type communication (mMTC), mobile robots, cloud robotics, etc. will enable large-scale process automation in businesses.

This network revolution will also transform the digital products' customer experience, ushering in a new era of mobile movies, as well as significant development in IoT and smart devices, as well as enhanced AR/VR capabilities.

The global rollout of 5G will necessitate a comprehensive revamp of communications infrastructure, but the transformation that 5G offers far surpasses its implementation challenges.

Written By: Jenie Singh (Marketing Exec - Estel Technologies) A homo sapiens, Alumni of BIT Mesra & NIT Durgapur and a Marketing Enthusiast with Bachelors in Architecture and Masters in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing.