Role of Fiber in 5G

Role of Fiber in 5G

Imagine waking up in a world where everything is connected, right from your gadgets, to cars, to home electronics, a world where internet lags will be a thing of the past. Doesn’t this sound fascinating? Trust me we aren’t very far from such days as 5G is slowly making its way from a general idea to network implementation globally. We are at the cusp of an industrial revolution that hinges on 5G Technology, the technology that will extend wireless connectivity beyond Smartphones, and enhance machine-to-machine connections. Before understanding how 5G will change the world, it is important to know how current networks will evolve to support this big change.

5G, the 5th generation in telecom networks, has created excitement in the industry from past few years as it promises to solve the mobile bandwidth woes and steer the revolution of Internet of Things (IoT), however, this excitement has led to misconception and that is, 5G is competing with Fiber. Rather, its other way around, Fiber will drive 5G innovation as optical fiber networks are the crucial underpinning that will empower wireless technology like 5G.

What role will Optical Fiber play in 5G technology?

The 5G network uses ‘small cellular radios’ also known as ‘small cells’ that extends the coverage of mobile networks and is deployed closer to the end users’ locations. Deployment of numerous Small cells would be needed at different locations to build denser 5G networks and these cells need a very high speed backhaul. That’s where the Fiber comes in the picture. Fiber network infrastructure offers the backhaul capacity to these small cells that requires 5G and will further provide the density, accessibility and flexibility to support multiple applications needed for the future.

Fiber is the backbone:

Fiber is the backbone that 5G will use to make successful connection with the consumers. It provides a robust infrastructure by creating a path that runs backhaul from macro sites to small cells to rooftop connection points at the users’ location.

Future Proof:

Fiber can keep pace with growing backhaul requirements without the any throughput or distance limitations thus it’s an ideal future proof solution that will meet the industry’s demands for the years to come and outlast even much of the technology we currently use to transmit across it.

Offers Security:

Fiber is durable and provides a signal unaffected by external factors such as temperature or electromagnetic fields, and the possibility of signal loss is very less. For 5G, telecom service providers would need an infrastructure which is reliable and secure like Fiber and will not only meet the bandwidth requirements but will also support the Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

To conclude, I would like to say that 5G is a transformative technology that meets the performance goals of higher capacity, and coverage and fibre will have an essential supporting role in building fast wireless connectivity.