Pandemic Lesson 1: 5G wireless and your lifesaving toothbrush
Many are stunned by our nation’s lack of preparedness for the pandemic. From masks and beds, to no rest-stops for critically important truckers, there are gaps in readiness you could drive one of their trucks through. But we also lack in one area that has far-reaching consequences for our country: 5G wireless. Before this plague, when did you last see a headline about 5G or see it mentioned on ABCNews? As we look forward to a future beyond the pandemic, 5G has to become a national priority.
Imagine this scenario. National health officials collate near real-time data from millions of toothbrushes to show the spread of the virus, allowing faster response and control of the spread. Toothbrushes?
Science fiction? No. You can buy an Oral-b connected toothbrush today for $150. It ‘talks’ to your iPhone using Bluetooth, with an app advising you on your brushing effectiveness. Phillips Flexcare goes a step further, moving your brushing data to AWS (Amazon Cloud) where more complex software analyzes your data. The next step is the addition of health sensors. The players aren’t talking, but including better sensor technology is a logical next step.
To go from sci-fi to reality we need 5G. Why? Well, today’s 4G wireless ‘pipe’ is too narrow, that’s why. These sensors will gather and store large amounts of data. Your phone can easily store this data, but we can’t move the data fast enough for those health officials to receive it from millions of people in real-time. 5G delivers reality because it offers a vastly wider high-speed pipe!
But today, 5G is available only in a few large metro markets. The unfortunate truth is that our do-nothing congress did not lead on 5G, our infrastructure, or our antiquated air traffic system, to name just three. Instead, we got years of political bickering. Great!
The result is that the U.S. does not have the 5G leadership position we should have, and we’re playing catch up, especially with the Chinese. The number one economy and home of innovation, being outpaced by many smaller, but apparently smarter, nations (South Korea, for example.) Ridiculous. Embarrassing. Sad.
What is 5G Wireless?
5G is very fast wireless. It is 100 times faster that the 4G we use today. It delivers data at up to 20Gb per second. 4G delivers at 1Gb.
Further, the electronic ‘stuff’ necessary to connect to 5G is getting smaller and using less power.
So, your low-cost toothbrush could easily be connected, and send huge amounts of secure data to your phone or doctor, while you are attending to your molars.
Responding to the pandemic and 5G?
As the world struggles to live with the pandemic, consider these observations:
>> Children are being taught at home, yet Pew Research says 10% of Americans don’t have or don’t use the Internet. That’s 35 million people. I wonder how many of them are children;
>> In 2018 less that 5% of U.S. workers worked from home. Now the majority are doing just that. But observations are that both private and public employers are not ready to support these remote workers;
>> Take for example, the banking industry. The four largest banks have approximately 600,000 employees in North America. Banking is critical to our economic recovery. Are these banks operating at reduced human capacity? If so, they certainly won’t say;
>> Is the Internet a garden hose, when we need a fire hydrant? We don’t know! EU officials have asked Netflix and YouTube to ‘throttle down’ their Internet usage, and the companies have complied. Why? Because with everyone at home, there is concern there won’t be enough capacity to support health and emergency system needs.
>> Netflix and YouTube make up 25% of global Internet traffic, normally! What is it today? Medical images (xray, mri, ct scan, etc) use 15–30Mb each. How many thousands per second are being sent via the Internet? There may be enough Internet capacity, but unfortunately there is no ‘global or regional usage dial’ and we really don’t know;
>> There is concern about law and order as more officers are quarantined. Officers are being removed from highway patrol and put to more urgent use. How will highways remain safe, and policed to interdict contraband?
How could 5G help solve these problems?
Here’s how:
>> As I write this, I have a broadband Internet connection (200Mb) in my house. 5G would give me much higher speed on top of Mt. High Point, the tallest hill in NJ;
>> To get broadband in houses/offices requires a ton of copper and fiber optic cable. With 5G we could use Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) to connect entire neighborhoods without cables;
>> Rural and remote areas across the country could be provisioned with broadband. Australia has already done this with its National Broadband Network. They’ve had some stumbles and made mistakes, but why don’t we learn from them and implement;
>> We could use telemedicine more, with lower cost home technology. Sophisticated medical tests, now requiring travel and health facilities, will be possible in the home. If you choose, all the vitals your doctor needs, like blood pressure, heart rate and rhythm, blood sugar, and hemoglobin, will be remotely monitored in real-time by your doctor;
>> Today you can send a text between two iPhones anywhere on the planet, directly. This is done using P2P or point-to-point connection. 5G will widen the use of P2P, allowing direct fast transfer of massive amounts of information;
>> Highway safety systems are in test now. Sensors in cars, on highways, and drones will monitor traffic flows, reduce accidents, and help locate offenders, all with reduced dependence on manpower.
>> You and I can get smart toothbrushes and be proactive with our health!
Why are we behind? No leadership, and the courts
In a nutshell:
>> We need leadership and imagination! Congress and the administration need to join a vision for 5G nationwide. Building the infrastructure will be a private effort, but Congress can do more, especially for under-served rural areas. Congress could incent industry through seed-money investments and less regulation;
>> The three major telecoms would love to see a speedier rollout. They are raring to go, spreading 5G across the country!
>> Congress is getting in the way! Five senators (Democrat and Republican) are blocking the sale of much-needed “C Band” spectrum to the telecoms. It’s pure politics;
>> We will need more towers and the FCC tried to overcome objections from environmental groups. The D.C. Appeals Court overruled the FCC. I like the environment, probably more than the next guy, but we need balance and common sense. We simply can’t have blanket blocks on progress.
I ask you. When will our country realize we have dropped this ball? When the rest of the world has smart toothbrushes?
