Empowering Sri Lanka with 5G
With the rapid development of the technology, people needed more from everything related to the technology. When it comes to the internet, speed is the main factor for the people who are using it. In the early ages, we had dial up connections and it was very slow, and the speed was around 56kbps (kilobits per second). But today it had reached up to 1Gbps (Gigabits per second) with the help of 5G technology.
When we consider 5G, it is not another word after the 4G because it integrates 4G, Wi-Fi, Millimeter waves and because of that transforming process, we can experience the speed of 1 Gbps.
When considering Sri Lanka, with the Covid-19 pandemic situation, government had issued a gazette that every Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Sri Lanka should give the 4G coverage to their consumers and the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will facilitates the towers. As a country, this is a good news for us. But the world had passed the level of 4G and they are moving to the 5G. When we refer the 5G map provided by OOKLA Company, we can see that Sri Lanka is not in that map. For this issue, there can be numerous reasons. Among those reasons, everyone cannot afford to purchase 5G supported mobile devices can be the primary reason.
However, 4G introduced in 2013 in Sri Lanka. At that time, there may be few people who could afford a 4G device. But nowadays, every smartphone has 4G. It took only 8 years to normalize it. If we can empower Sri Lanka with 5G within a year, it would take less than 8 years to normalize among the people and it will be a motivation to the people to go forward with the updated technology.
According to the scientists, 5G has the speed but it comes with a downside. The only downside in this technology is, giving the coverage. To get an idea about this consider building 100 4G antennas is equals to building 5000 to 20000 5G antennas. It is mainly because 5G technology uses millimeter waves and they have a shorter range of 30 – 300GHz , inability to travel through buildings and obstacles and it can be absorbed by the water and plants. With these downsides, it can be seen as an impossible task in Sri Lanka to establish the coverage as this is a tropical country. But, as far as we know some technological companies are working on this technology and they have got the best results. Such as Verizon, Vodafone, EE and many more. Sri Lankan ISPs can collaborate with those companies and get the 5G technology. It can be a huge investment, but they can earn them eventually. Of course Sri Lankan government should encourage these ISPs by reducing taxes and other expenses of the companies.
In conclusion, we can empower 5G in Sri Lanka. But to accomplish that task Sri Lankan ISPs should be collaborate with the topmost powerful companies in Telecommunication Field. Such as, VERIZON, Ericsson and etc. Eventually, every Sri Lankan will be able to experience the speed of 5G.
References -
https://spectrum.ieee.org/.../5g-bytes-millimeter-waves...
https://www.speedtest.net/ookla-5g-map
http://www.trc.gov.lk/.../spectrum-management-in-sri...
The history of broadband from the '80s to today (uswitch.com)
5G Speed: How Fast is 5G? (verizon.com)
How 5G antennas will get built near you - CNET
5G Coverage Checker – Compare coverage on all UK networks
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