We posted an article in June talking about 5G and what it means for businesses. Progress on the 5G infrastructure is rapidly advancing with Vodafone announcing they’re installing two private 5G networks in Scotland. The race for better and faster mobile connections doesn’t stop there though, as Nokia is now leading the 6G-ANNA project which is researching into 6G.
To help better understand the opportunities 5G creates, and the possibilities it can have for businesses, I spoke to small business owner Alan Greysmark about how 5G has changed their business.
“Once it was announced 5G was going to be made available in our city, I immediately looked into how we could utilise this. Our business needs us to be on the cutting edge of technology and the speeds 5G could allow were leaps and bounds above what we had on the existing 4G network.”
Faster speeds and improved capacity with 5G mean more devices can connect and get higher download speeds on their connections. Users have the choice between many different providers as 5G has become a more standard offering at a range of mobile networks. You need to make sure your technology can keep up though.
“We had a mix of 4G and 5G enabled phones already so we shifted our long-term equipment plans to ensure 5G compatibility was a priority. Being out of the office most of the day, making the most of what speeds we can get was so important to us. Because we’re based in Manchester, we got 5G early on so I’d keep an eye out to see if your area has it yet.”
5G was first introduced by EE in 2019 in six cities: London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester. Now over 80 cities and towns have 5G available to them and the rollout is continuing. Ofcom have a checker you can use which will show you the mobile signal availability in your area, including 5G data which you can find here.
“My main piece of advice would be to understand exactly what your options are for your area and keep on top of what would work best for your business. We can now do video calls and upload work from on the road, letting us be more flexible and respond to needs quicker. When we had to temporarily move office, we could continue as normal which was a huge relief.”
BT Business uses EE to provide mobile signal across the country, and we have a large portfolio of products and solutions you can choose from. You can look over what’s available here and see what can help your business.
If you have any questions or want to discuss this further, you’re in the right place. Make a post here or send us a message and we can discuss further.
^BethM
