5G and IoT: What to Expect in 2024 and Beyond
Introduction
The year 2024 will likely see major advancements and changes in 5G and IoT technologies. As someone interested in these fields, I wanted to explore what developments we can expect to see over the next couple of years and how they might impact our lives. In this article, I’ll provide an overview of where 5G and IoT are heading and what benefits and challenges they may bring by 2024 and beyond.
The Continued Rollout of 5G Networks
Wider Availability
By 2024, 5G networks are expected to have much wider availability globally. Early 5G rollouts have focused on select cities and areas, but coverage will expand significantly in the coming years. Major carriers are investing billions into 5G infrastructure to increase accessibility. With wider 5G availability, more consumers, businesses and industries will be able to take advantage of 5G connectivity and its capabilities.
Faster Speeds
A key benefit of 5G is substantially faster speeds compared to 4G LTE. 5G networks aim to provide peak download speeds of 20 Gigabits per second (Gb/s) and latency under 1 millisecond. In real-world usage, early 5G networks are providing speeds around 1-2 Gb/s. By 2024, average download speeds are likely to be 300-500 Megabits per second (Mb/s) – a major upgrade from 4G. These ultra-fast speeds will enable new user experiences and applications.
Greater Capacity
In addition to raw speed, 5G also promises far greater network capacity through more available spectrum and advanced antennas. With this expanded capacity, 5G networks will be able to support massive growth in connected devices and data traffic. Cisco projects global mobile data traffic to grow nearly 5x from 2021 to 2024 – a tremendous increase that can be enabled by the capacity of 5G networks.
IoT Growth and Evolution
Proliferation of Connected Devices
The Internet of Things (IoT) market is forecast to grow steadily in the coming years as more appliances, vehicles, industrial systems and other objects become connected. IDC predicts there will be over 55 billion connected IoT devices globally by 2024, up from about 14 billion in 2019. 5G will play a key role in supporting all these new connections.
New Application Categories
By 2024, we’ll see the rise of new IoT application categories that leverage 5G capabilities. For example, augmented reality heads-up displays in vehicles, smart factories with real-time automation adjustment, and mobile AR/VR experiences will emerge. These new applications will take advantage of 5G’s high bandwidth, low latency and ability to support massive device density.
Advancements in Analytics and AI
To handle the data explosion from increasing IoT devices, analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities will need to advance in tandem. In 2024, expect to see improvements in areas like predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, natural language processing and computer vision for IoT data. This will help uncover insights from connected devices that drive efficiency and better decision making.
Challenges to Overcome
Security Concerns
With the onslaught of connected devices and massive amounts of data, security threats are likely to rise. IoT systems will need to be designed with security in mind and have mechanisms like encryption and access control built in. 5G networks will also need heavy security protections to prevent cyber attacks and data breaches.
Interoperability Issues
The IoT ecosystem today consists of fragmented standards, platforms and communication protocols. As the number and variety of IoT devices multiplies, interoperability problems could arise. More work on standards and unified IoT architectures will be needed to address potential integration and compatibility issues down the road.
Health Concerns
Some health advocates have raised concerns about potential risks from prolonged exposure to 5G radio waves. However, most experts believe 5G is safe based on current research, as radio frequencies fall below ionizing radiation levels. Still, the long-term impacts require further studies over time as 5G scales up globally.
The Road Ahead
In closing, 5G and IoT are positioned to see tremendous growth through 2024 and beyond that promise to bring both transformative benefits and new challenges. As these technologies evolve, it will be fascinating to witness how they shape and impact our society in the coming years. The enterprise use cases and applications are just starting to emerge – laying the groundwork for a more connected future across every industry.
