Imagine that all networks are a hundred times faster, have a thousand fold more capacity, and latency is virtually zero. This is 5G, the network standard of the future. Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, will be one of our speakers at impact’17. He will share his insights on the ways that 5G will boost connectivity: by delivering extreme broadband, ultra-robust low latency connectivity and massive Internet of Things networking, 5G has the potential to transform our lives, our businesses, and our societies.

Deutsche Telekom is a leader in the global 5G race and has already announced to launch this new technology by 2020. The company is preparing intensively even today: the operator plans to increase investments again in the current year to €12 billion from €11 billion in 2016, focusing on the creation of 5G network solutions for “the digital future”.

What exactly is 5G? Stating that it is a faster connection would be a major understatement. 5G takes connectivity to a brand new level, as it combines all of the most modern technologies we have today. Some of its main features include low latency, network slicing, and narrowband IoT technology. “In the future, at least 50 billion things will need access to the network, along with billions of people,” said Höttges. “Many aspects of everyday life will obtain their tailored network: enormous bandwidth for entertainment, ultrafast response times for cars and robots, and durable narrowband connections for parking sensors or trash cans.

Deutsche Telekom has already made major steps in working on the indispensable feature: global network slicing. To put it simply, it is the ability of multiple networks (so-called slices) to co-exist on the same hardware. Each of these network slices can have different – even conflicting – characteristics. For example, autonomous cars need low latency, streaming HD videos requires high mobile bandwidth, and IoT solutions need durable connections that go easy on the battery. The three vital components of computing power, battery size, and network latency all have to be optimized in a 5G network.

Deutsche Telekom has broken the one millisecond latency time barrier last year and is able to maintain a constant and reliable latency of eight milliseconds. This feature is essential in for autonomous cars – a higher time gap between sending and receiving the signal may have disastrous consequences.

The narrowband IoT technology is also no science fiction – Deutsche Telekom keeps upgrading the network in a way that allows for a battery life of IoT devices of up to ten years. The network is present and constantly expanded in eight European countries: Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Croatia.

The first wave of commercial services will be available three years from now – and don´t jump to conclusions that 5G might seem like just another technology. Stepwise from 2020, 5G will change the digital ecosystem more than any other innovation did before.

T-Mobile is impact’17 Strategic Partner

Visit T-Mobile website: http://www.t-mobile.pl