March 19, 2021
5g, IoT, Innovation
Public safety agencies, public transit organizations, and utilities have been using mobile applications powered by cellular communication technologies for years. Now, with the arrival of 5G, many of the IT professionals at these organizations are wondering how they can use this new cellular communications technology to unlock value for their organizations.
As we describe in our recent white paper, 5G Revolution or Evolution? What You Need to Know for Mobility Applications, 5G will offer these professionals very fast data transmission speeds with very low latency, ultra-reliable connections, and very fast handoffs. While these improved communications capabilities are impressive, questions remain, particularly how IT professionals can use these capabilities to evolve their existing mobile applications, or deploy revolutionary new mobile applications that were not possible before 5G?
For public safety agencies, 5G’s faster data transmission speeds and lower latency will support new mobile applications that require the transmission of video and data in close to real-time. For example, expect to see police departments using 5G to improve their officers’ situational awareness by streaming live, high-definition video from police cars and body cameras to command staff at headquarters and responding officers in the field. In addition, paramedics will begin using 5G to transmit real-time video from their ambulances to doctors at the hospital, allowing these doctors to perform remote triage on patients while they are still in transit. Fire fighters might even be able to extinguish building and forest fires faster and more efficiently by using 5G-equipped drones to gather high-resolution video of these fires.
5G will allow public transit organizations to deliver their passengers faster Wi-Fi, enabling them to watch high quality videos, play low-latency games, and access other demanding applications even when they are on a train, trolley, bus or ferry. At the same time, 5G vehicle routers can provide the drivers of these vehicles with access to routing, scheduling, and other cloud-based vehicle applications.
They can also use 5G to collect operational and performance data from their vehicles, data that can allow them to proactively determine when these vehicles might need maintenance. Public transit agencies can even use 5G to better ensure the safety of their passengers and employees by expanding and enhancing how they collect video from their vehicles.
Utilities will be able to use 5G to send high-definition video and other data from their vehicles back to headquarters, providing leaders at headquarters with better situational awareness as they coordinate their utility’s response to snowstorms, hurricanes, and other disasters. In addition, 5G’s high bandwidth and low latency allows utilities to easily transmit video and other types of data to their workers laptops and tablets, even as they use these same networks to collect diagnostic data from their vehicles’ engines. Thanks to 5G’s high data transmission speeds and low latency, utility crews might even begin using augmented reality mobile applications to guide them through the repair of grid equipment that they are unfamiliar with, helping bring this equipment back online faster.
As they determine how they will use 5G to deploy evolved versions of existing mobile applications and revolutionary new mobile applications, public safety, public transit, and utility IT professionals need to take several considerations into account if they want these application deployments to be successful.
Some of the considerations that they should take into account include:
• Is there currently enough 5G coverage in their area for these applications.
• How soon will they need 5G’s performance improvements for both evolved versions of their existing mobile applications and revolutionary new mobile applications?
• Can the IoT solutions they are purchasing use 4G while 5G networks are still being built out, while allowing them to switch to using 5G as their vehicles age and 5G coverage become ubiquitous?
As they answer these and other questions, IT professionals can take solace in the fact that 5G was designed to coexist with 4G. There is no hard deadline approaching for them to adopt 5G, and they have time to carefully consider which mobile applications they will need 5G for and when they want to begin deploying these applications.
Sierra Wireless is the perfect partner to help these IT professionals as they develop their 5G mobile application strategies.
We are one of the world’s leading IoT solutions providers, and introduced the world’s first multi-network 5G vehicle router, the AirLink MG90 5G. We actively participate in 3GPP’s 5G standard development process, and can offer insights on what 5G options make most sense for these professionals as well as the changes that are planned for the 5G standard in the future.
Sierra Wireless has also built strong relationships with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other members of the 5G ecosystem, allowing us to provide them with a broad understanding of the 5G technology landscape. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we are dedicated to offering the most secure IoT solutions on the market, so these professionals can minimize the risk that any of their 5G mobile application’s data might be stolen, leaked, or lost.
The journey for public safety, public transit and utility IT professionals will be long, but the eventual benefits from adopting 5G will be transformative. By partnering with Sierra Wireless, these IT professionals can make their journey down the path to a 5G future fast, smooth, and secure.
Read our white paper, 5G Revolution or Evolution? What You Need to Know for Mobility Applications and Start with Sierra to learn more about you can use 5G to deploy enhanced and new mobile applications that accelerate your organization’s digital transformation.
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