What Does Nationwide 5G Mean for IoT?

Since the announcement of nationwide 5G, it seems that almost every day, a cellular provider comes up on the television during a commercial break to tell us that nationwide 5G is going to revolutionize the world. Now, two years after the first introduction, Americans are starting to see 5G phones and plans become more of a common occurrence. Sure, 5G means faster internet browsing and higher quality video streams, but mobile users aren't the only ones getting an upgrade with 5G capabilities.

The launch of nationwide 5G is also great news for the Internet of Things (IoT) market. In this second installment of the Wax Marketing Blog's "5G Experience Series", I will be talking about how the already powerful IoT market will be seeing record-breaking growth in 2021.

It's All About Speed

It's no secret, the success of IoT over the past two decades has come down to how fast it can perform data transfers. When 4G was released, it was meant specifically to enhance mobile data services. It was never optimized to ensure that IoT would have the same improvement nor was it strong enough to handle the billions of devices trying to link to it. That has all changed with 5G. It has been reported that 5G will be 10 times faster than current LTE networks. This massive increase in speed will allow IoT devices to communicate and share data even quicker than before.

How Many Devices is too Many?

Currently, the number of connected devices at one time is about 700 million. This number is set to increase to 3.2 billion by 2023. Along with the speed that 5G brings us, the number of devices that 5G IoT will be able to connect to will also bring in a revolution of increased internal device communication. For the first time, IoT will be able to transmit data for over 100 billion devices around the world at the SAME TIME. This comes out to about one million devices per square kilometer, all connecting in real-time.

Network Reliability is a Key Factor to IoT Success

What would be the point of creating a network of this magnitude if it wasn't reliable? In addition to the number of devices that will be able to connect and the speed at which IoT will run, the improved 5G networks will operate more reliably and help create stronger and more stable connections. This means increased faith in smart objects around the house like locks, security cameras, alarms and any other monitoring system that requires real-time updates.

It's Already Happening

Of Course, 5G is in the beginning stages and we have yet to see what 5G utilized with IoT is truly capable of. However, we are already seeing million-dollar companies start to implement 5G IoT into their products in ways we never thought possible. Here are just a couple of examples.

1. Johnnie Walker: Regarded as one of the highest quality scotch whiskey producers in the world, Johnnie Walker has started distributing their Blue Label bottle with built-in electronic sensors that can tell if the bottle has been opened and where it is in the supply chain.
2. Malibu: Taking notes from a competitor, Malibu, another adult beverage company, has started using their connected bottles to promote exclusive content to consumers based on their drinking habits and geographical location.

These are just two examples of the things that have been made possible in the last year due to the increase in IoT capabilities and 5G networks. With IoT finding its way into the beverage industry, what else could we be seeing in the next 2-3 years?

IoT is Just a Piece to the 5G Puzzle

The Internet of Things is amazing technology. It connects all of the devices in our 21 ^st Century universe and teaches us where we can improve at the same time. Although 5G has made its impact on IoT, it has also made an impact on digital marketing as a whole and opens up a realm of new possibilities for marketers to explore. In the third and final installment of the Wax Marketing Blog's 5G Experience Series, we will be exploring how 5G is bringing science fiction-type technologies to modern-day life.