India begins rolling out 5G services. Everyone is excited about it, but very few are aware or concerned about the disadvantages of 5G
India on 1st October joined the elite 5G club of countries like Japan, the USA, the UK, Korea, China, and some other European countries by rolling out 5G services in a few selected cities. 5G technology is expected to deliver 10x download speed than the previous 4G. With the speed, the platform is already set for India to experience the new age internet of 5G.
Sure it is a leap for humans in the next generation of the internet, but each innovation brings with it some disadvantages which we will discuss in this particular article. There are many disadvantages to the environment too, but we in this particular article will exclude environmental harms. Those will be covered in another of our articles. This article will specifically discuss the disadvantages of its service or the general ones.
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Limited Coverage
Sure the 5G is believed to be the fastest internet service, but what is the use of it if everyone does not have it? Selected cities of selected countries have access to 5G which makes it very limited. Yes, the Government and top companies are putting in all the effort to cover as much area as possible, but still covering the world is a farsight and will take several years.
Limited Upload speed
Yes, the 5G is the fastest, but it is the download speed that makes it the fastest. The upload speed, however, is believed to be weaker than 4G. Upload speed, if not more, carries as much importance as download speed. So, keeping pace with the world with a weaker upload speed is as much more difficult.
Cybersecurity risk
Who loves a cyber attack? Probably the hackers sitting out planning to rob your hard-earned money. Well, 4G may have been a bit slower than 5G but is a lot stronger in terms of protection against Cyber attacks. The lack of encryption in a 5G connection is a pure invitation to the hackers sitting out there planning for their next heist.
Consuming power
5G quickly eats away the power of the battery resulting in battery damage and further phone damage. Very few 5G phones have come up and so they will have to develop a technology for reduced consumption of battery or will have to increase the battery power which again impacts the electricity, which certainly is not a boon. 4G devices are luckier on this part as they do not demand a battery of higher power.
Impacting flight operations
Rolling out 5G services initially may require the clearance of air space and hence the cancellation of flights. There are already cases recorded in the USA for cancellation of flights due to the rolling out of the 5G services. 5G services will require time and hence the airspace is going to be massively impacted by it.
Huge costs for setting up 5G
5G will require companies or the government to invest a huge amount in setting up their network. We are not talking of a town or city, but the whole country. Setting up the infrastructure for 5G will be a big headache not only cost-wise but effectiveness too. The contractors too are new to 5G and hence may not understand it too well, which may increase the cost of its setting. Also, even if they set it up, the expenses won’t stop, as they will have to bear the maintenance expenses too. The companies are least likely to bare these expenses and hence will transfer the burden to their consumers which will spike their expenses.
Inconvenience to the public
As discussed above 5G services are not going to spread across the entire India or the world in an instant. It will take time and energy to implement the 5G services. With time and energy, it will ask the common public to bear with the inconvenience they may experience while the cell phone towers may get erected or while new towers are built.
The general public is never happy about the roads or sidewalks dug in every alternate day and spreading 5G services may require the public to coordinate with the officials even more. This can prove to be a huge disadvantage of 5G to the general public in the form of increased traffic caused by road diversions.
Vulnerable connectivity
The 5G connectivity covers a very short distance, unlike the other frequencies. That short connection too can be impacted by obstructions like a tree, or a wall. The frequency is most likely going to be disrupted by these obstructions. With increased development, these obstructions have already increased. This is a huge disadvantage of 5G as this will result in the building of more towers for 5G which will hit our vulnerable spot, which is the shortage of space.
All in all, we do admit that we are transitioning into the new advanced generation of 5G technology, but with some major and minor disadvantages. However, we shall get a clear picture of these setbacks once the rolling out of 5G services is complete and we are able to use it. Till then, let us assume or hope that we are mostly wrong about its disadvantages.
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