What consumers and marketers can expect from 5G

5G speed can transform everyday tasks into enhanced experiences as faster speeds and response times enable new applications that can offer real-time interactivity and experiences that are so immersive that it is almost like the real thing. Singtel’s Gan Siok Hoon tells The Drum what consumers and marketers can expect from the technology.It may be hard to imagine how valuable 5G can be, because most applications would not have a form factor change.For example, a self-driving car will still look like a car, but the way one operates it will be absolutely different with 5G. Consumers will notice and feel the fastest speed, response times and connectivity of 5G, notes Gan, who is the managing director of consumer sales and mobile marketing, consumer for Singapore at Singtel, during The Drum's Digital Summit.“In terms of speed and ultra-fast 5G network like ours, offer speeds of more than 1.2 Gbps and that is 10 times faster than 4G. This means that movies, games and content that used to take minutes to download can now be done in a matter of seconds. For example, a 4k movie clip can be downloaded in just 48 seconds on 5G compared to four minutes on 4G,” she says.“In terms of response time, 5G offers ultra-low latency. You can now experience two times faster response time with less loading and waiting. A fun fact for all the gamers out there, we recently conducted a 5G called gaming trial that consistently delivered lower latency of between eight to 11 milliseconds compared to 30 to 40 milliseconds of 4G. Now, what this means is a seamless ultra-responsive gaming experience for all the gamers out there.”She adds: “Another key feature of 5G is this massive connectivity. This means you can now connect more devices without a reduction in speed and quality. In fact, 5G can connect to 1 million devices per square kilometer, and that's 1000 times increase over 4G's capacity. So, this is useful for use cases where you need to connect a lot of devices such as industrial devices and autonomous self-driving cars.”Gan says the benefit of 5G is the new experience it unlocks for all the consumers, which means 5G has something for everyone.She points to Singtel’s partnership with mixed reality book apps, such as Bookful, where storytelling comes to life via augmented reality. For young kids, this means the rich visuals can make learning more fun and immersive.“There will be virtual reality events where you get to immerse yourself in 360-degree entertainment at your fingertips and for those who love attending concerts and live events, but cannot do so now because of Covid-19, virtual reality is the next best thing to transport you to the heart of the show. You can choose your best seats and experience the show from multiple angles and even get up-close and personal with your favourite artists on stage,” explains Gan.“We also have something for gaming fans. Now, oftentimes teenagers refuse to leave their homes when they are playing their favourite games on their PCs. Now with 5G cloud gaming, they can instantly switch from gaming on their PCs and continue where they left off on their mobile device on 5G with no lag. Cloud gaming will make gaming accessible to all. With all the heavy processing done on the cloud, 5G cloud gaming can turn every smartphone into a gaming console.”Gan Siok Hoon spoke with The Drum at The Drum’s Digital Summit, a week-long online event helping marketers to get inspired, find solutions and harness the power of marketing. You can watch the interview in full here.Sign up to watch forthcoming sessions and see the full Digital Summit schedule here.