Tech
once. So, we have speed,
networks that process
high volumes of data with
minimal delay and nearly
unlimited connectivity. But
how does this impact venues,
exhibitors and visitors?
5G and venues
What’s up
with 5G?
5G is on the horizon. James Morgan,
founder of Event Tech Lab, looks into
whether it could really change the
face of exhibitions
5
G is set to revolutionise
show experiences for
exhibitors and visitors.
Connections that are faster
and more powerful will
lead to advances in areas
such as the Internet of
Things (IoT) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI). And this
dream is possible in the
very near future. But this all
depends on the updating of
information and hardware
infrastructures. Countries
like China and the US are
way ahead in making the
dream a reality, while in
other countries we see
politics, infrastructure
under-investment and an
understating of what 5G can
deliver as barriers to change.
What does 5G offer?
The internet connection
on your phone is likely
to overtake your home
broadband speed by quite a
margin. According to Laurie
Lutz from the Consumer
Technology Association,
organiser of CES, 5G
networks will be 100 times
faster and five times more
responsive than today. Mark
Hanley of US-based Smart
City Networks says 5G
promises to provide lower
latency, and the ability to
connect many devices at
The Los Angles
Convention Centre was the
first US exhibition facility to
install a 5G Wi-Fi network.
This is an internal network,
not one from a mobile signal
tower. To take advantage
of mobile tower 5G, John
Hanley advocates adding a
Distributed Antenna System
(DAS) at large venues
to assure 100 per cent
connectivity. That means a
venue won’t need to install
a 5G Wi-Fi system. Ward
Van Ooteghem of Citymesh
in Belgium has a different
take. When 5G networks
will be deployed by the
mobile operators, venues will
benefit because of the added
wireless capacity for their
visitors, solving the issue of
over-demand on internal Wi-
Fi by smartphone users. This
will result in a better overall
performance of the venue’s
Wi-Fi for the exhibitors or
other mission-critical use
cases that need it.
5G will impact exhibitors
Ward says that the
introduction of 5G networks
will help solve the issue of
over-demand by smartphone
users. This is good news for
exhibitors who rely on using
the internet to demonstrate
and sell their services and
products at shows. Imagine
a booth with a plethora of
internet-connected devices
being able to operate with
increased bandwidth
and speed, without the
need for traditional wired
connections. 5G will
allow for video-centric
applications, that require a
large amount of bandwidth.
VR would be a seamless
experience. This means that
real-time interactivity will
probably be the most visible
new application that is
enabled by 5G.
Is 5G good for visitors?
Stephan Forseilles of
Easyfairs thinks that 5G will
comfort his organisation in
their decision not to have
as many native mobile apps.
With the speed and lower
latency of 5G connectivity,
mobile-first web sites will
become the norm. No need
for single-use native app
downloads that take up
memory space on mobile
devices. But who has a
5G device? When AT&T
switched on their 5G
network in December 2018,
there were no phones that
could take advantage of
5G connectivity. Visitors
will need a 5G device.
The expansion of the
functionality is dependant
on the speed of 5G device
adoption. Finally, Christian
Ary of Rabbit Technologies
offers a cautionary note.
Delivering seamless 5G
connectivity on a large
geographic scale when as
a sizeable geography is
still without 4G is going to
take both political will and
government partnerships
with the private sector to
invest in delivering the 5G
dream, globally.
March — 57