It's the new improved mobile technology that everyone is eagerly awaiting. Fifth generation mobile, or 5G as it's known, will greatly increase the amount of data that can be sent at one time and the speed within which it can be sent. Crucially, it will enable the Internet of Things to go from being a plaything of the elite to an affordable mass market proposition.  

"5G isn’t one thing," highlights Saul Einbinder, VP venture development at telco testing company Spirent Communications. "It’s many technologies coming together to speed up cellular service; enable new devices that haven’t had cellular connectivity before,  hospitals, factories, drones, you name it;  and, provide new services such as broadband and TV to the home without fiber or cable." 5G technology is not without its challenges, however.  Significantly, there are two different parts of the radio spectrum that are being used to deliver 5G and one of these frequencies finds it harder to pass through objects, confirms Einbinder. "These are radio frequencies that are similar to current cellular frequencies, this is what is called Sub 6 Gigahertz, and extremely high frequency millimeter wave bands, commonly abbreviated as mmWave. At these frequencies - such as the proposed 28 GHz and 39 GHz - radio behaves differently. These short wavelength mmWaves are much more easily blocked by tree leaves and by your body