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Is 5G technology really here?

Smart Communications recently announced its new LTE-A5G’ service which got a lot of people talking. Instead of it being good news, many took it in a negative way saying that it’s all just a marketing hype. But what exactly is 5G? Is it really here?

Smart5G

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

5G describes the upcoming generation of wireless networking. It is not a set of standard specifications that determine if the technology qualifies to be called 5G or not. As of now it is just used to describe the next-gen connectivity since there’s still no solid definition or formal agreement between companies of what it really is. Though this may be the case, 5G is expected to be 100 times faster and 1,000 times the capacity of LTE, faster streaming, and most importantly has the capability to cover wider range.

It is also important to note that experts see this technology being operational on 2020 at the earliest. This is due to the amount of time and money still needed to successfully finish the project.

One of the few handsets today with support for LTE-A is the Singapore-launched Samsung Galaxy S5 4G+ and there are no news of its local availability yet. Because of this, a lot of Filipinos still can’t make use of this new technology here in the country. The announcement of this service in the Philippines also reached overseas and attracted attention from an international site calling it a “bogus 5G technology.”

In Smart’s defense, one of the entries on their website’s FAQs section asks this:

“I heard that LTE-A is not 5G – is this true?”

To which Smart answers:

“LTE-Advanced is the next stage of development of LTE that offers significantly higher data speeds. It has been referred to, in some markets like the United States, as 5G. This means faster Internet downloading and video streaming, among other capabilities.”

What we’re seeing here is that the term 5G, as of now, still has a wide scope of definition making it easy to use loosely.

For us, having LTE-A or “5G” is still good news. The thing is, if there will still be Fair Usage Policy (and we’re pretty sure data capping will still be implemented) for its subscribers, having faster-than-average connection won’t do much good as it cannot be maximized – it’s just like being handed a key to a nice house that you can only live in for once a month.

Besides, many subscribers have yet to even taste the actual speed of LTE/4G in the country because of the limited coverage so the talk for 5G could only add salt to injury.

What do you think of Smart’s 5G technology? We put up a poll below just in case you want to share your thoughts on the subject. Do you believe Smart’s claim about their 5G connectivity?

[socialpoll id=”2217307″]
{Sources: 1, 2}

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Avatar for Kevin Bruce Francisco

Kevin Bruce Francisco is the Senior Editor and Video Producer for YugaTech. He's a Digital Filmmaking graduate who's always either daydreaming of traveling or actually going places on his bike. Follow him on Twitter for more tech updates @kevincofrancis.

40 Responses

  1. Avatar for Mirror Mirror says:

    Sa amin, ang smart na 3G mas mabilis pa kaysa LTE ng Globe. Though I doubt if this 5G really occurs, but 1 thing is for sure based sa observation ko, mas mabilis ang smart than globe.

  2. Avatar for Mir Mir says:

    5G daw? ni 3G nga sa place namin wala. e sa globe HSPA+ 13Mbps max pa net ko.

  3. Avatar for ROA ROA says:

    http://www.androidauthority.com/wireless-carrier-already-pushing-bogus-5g-technology-512616/

    Smart believes that their LTE-A network is deemed 5G by “leading global operators” yet you won’t find any significant organizational agreement on that definition. But that won’t stop the 5G hype from continuing to grow. Some researchers want the US to open up wave bands to start encouraging research if we are to “keep pace.”

  4. Avatar for ToQ-1 ToQ-1 says:

    Instead of introducing newer technologies, I think they should be working on the quality of their internet service. If they improved their service to a point where people no longer complain about slow internet, then they can start introducing newer techs for the benefit of their subscribers.

  5. Avatar for Alfred Aquino Alfred Aquino says:

    In developed countries such as US and Europe, and other developed countries in Asia, 5G is still in the process of development. How come the Philippines who has the slowest speed in SEA and one of the worst in the world will have this 5G technology. Smart cannot even upgrade their system for a better 3G, how much more 5G technology. Smart Telcom is lying.

  6. Avatar for zarne zarne says:

    SMART has 5G…. and I think I saw ELVIS PRESLEY walking out from their building.

  7. Avatar for rasilbato rasilbato says:

    ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CALL NTC. YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT SMART DOES NOT HAVE 5G BROADBAND. WHAT SMART HAS IS NARROWBAND ONLY TO DISTRUBUTE 3G UPTO LTE. 5G TO 10G IS BEING DISTRIBUTED BY ANOTHER COMPANY NOT BY SMART NOR BY GLOBE. I WAS INFORMED BY NTC THAT PINOY TELEKOMS IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED LICENSEE.

  8. Avatar for tedz tedz says:

    pasikat lang ang smart. sa katunayan bulok ang serbisyo particular na sa net connection. false signal naman narerecieve ko ditto sa cabatuan, Isabela. 3G ang nakikita ko sa cp pero kasinbagal naman ng pagong ang downloading/uploading. kaasar lang. dami nilang kita araw-araw di man lang makpagbigay ng good service. KAYA BINITAWAN KA SMART NG TAGA CABATUAN DAHIL SA POOR SERVICE SA NET CONNECTION. Buti pa ang globe malapit sa katotohanan ang mga advertisement nila.

  9. Avatar for theo theo says:

    THE 5G REVOLUTION

    – 1,000 times faster than the 4G
    – Speeds of up to 1gbps
    – 800-megabyte movie file downloaded in less than one second
    – Trial 5G service will be rolled out in South Korea in 2017
    – Fully commercial service in December 2020
    – Chinese manufacturer Huawei looking at a 5G rollout by 2020

    source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2545831/South-Korea-launch-5G-service-fast-users-download-entire-film-just-ONE-SECOND.html

  10. Avatar for teody teody says:

    naku propaganda lang iyan ng smart. napakatagal na nila sa industry pero til ngayon PALPAK pa rin speed nila sa internet. nakakadismaya! 3G nga nagpapakita na signal sa phone pero mas mabagal pa sa EGDE ang downloading. buti pa si Globe malapit sa katotohanan ang mga inaadvertised na internet speed. ( pero di pa ako contento dahil sa data cap.) Yaman ng smart di man lang maupgrade pasilidad sa bawat bayan. may discrimination nga e. pag city ang isang lugar naa-upgrade pero pag bayan lang na simple e walang karapatan sa magandang serbisyo. kaya wag magtaka si SMART kung di mabawi ang mga subscriber ditto sa Cabatauan, Isabela. Buti na lang meron ang SUn na kasangga rito para sa UNLI call and text. pero sa net connection NEVER … walang puwang..

  11. Avatar for dan 5g dan 5g says:

    How can SMART claim to have 5g when they have the license from NTC? Only PINOY TELEKOMS is the authorized licensee to distribute 5g to 10g in the country.

  12. Avatar for aosdoa aosdoa says:

    eto ung FB ng culprit ng yugatech.. Dapat di sya nag pupublish ng mga ganito. wala naman sya alam dito. pabibo masyado to!

    Kevin Bruce Francisco
    https://www.facebook.com/bimbutch?fref=ts

  13. Avatar for sylphy sylphy says:

    2G+3G=5G..haha very Smart!

  14. Avatar for YunOh! YunOh! says:

    Sus!! Signal nga namin sa bulacan ng smart 2G lang eh… Buti pa globe may H+ nakukuha… Ayusin muna nila data signal nila…

  15. Avatar for crash crash says:

    Buti na lang may psiphon, kahit papano nakakabawi sa mga GLOBE at SMART..

  16. Avatar for easy e easy e says:

    What can you expect from someone who has a ‘digital film making’ background? Syempre limited ang knowledge nyan sa technology. Hype lang ang alam nyan or ‘surface’ lang. But all those fundamental levels of technology, hindi nya alam yan. Iba talaga if you have formal background or years of experience on these fields.

    Well this is a challenge for the senior editor of yuga to be more careful next time about the stories he write here. Aral-aral din.

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