What is 5G?
5G is rapidly rolling out in many countries throughout the world and is the latest evolution of mobile connectivity.
A step up from the current 4G, it plans to be more reliable and faster than its predecessor – and it could impact the property industry in a few different ways.
Telstra has enabled 5G at the ‘G’ just in time for the AFL Grand Final.
As a technology, 5G promises to offer lower response times and greater capacity. Tying together both current and future connectivity standards, many industries from manufacturing to agriculture are likely to be transformed by its introduction.
But what will be the impact within the property industry?
Although the commercial and residential real estate industry might not be the first to come to mind when discussing 5G, it’s clear that there are many ways in which it will be affected. Whether you are a real estate agent, property manager or hold another position within the industry, it’s bound to impact the way you work.
Here are five important ways 5G might impact the industry
- Telecommunications providers seeking rental spaces
According to Milestone Communications President Len Forkas, telecom companies could start to seek rent space for any additional electronic infrastructure they need in order to provide the network to their customers (see video below).
So rooftops could become a very desirable feature!
This isn’t yet a guaranteed change, but the way in which 5G is developing points towards this route, which could present opportunities for property owners to generate new revenue streams. - Improving valuations
In light of the above, 5G could have a positive impact on both rent values and property valuation as a whole. As technology continues to develop, so does customers’ reliance on it. Consumers worldwide hold connectivity as a high priority, so properties that lack adequate 5G signals probably will be valued less.
However, there has been quite a lot of media surrounding whether these cells would be detrimental to a regular person’s health which could cause a value swing in the opposite direction. - Smart home integration
With faster network speeds comes the development of smart homes.
As the technology becomes more widespread, homeowners could start to increase the value of their property by fully converting it to a smart home, taking advantage of the Internet of Things.
Smart homes carry several other benefits – becoming more cost-efficient in terms of energy bills, improving security, tracking maintenance and much more. - Paving the way for virtual reality?
Some agents are already offering virtual home tours, but the extra data capability could create more of an uptake of these services – particularly where consumers are concerned.
A regular two-hour Hollywood blockbuster takes six minutes to download at 4G, but would take 3.6 seconds at 5G (10Gbp/s) speeds.
This should mean that those big video or virtual tour file downloads should be super quick too. - Self-driving cars
Self-driving cars are already being produced (but are yet to be released), with the intention of having a 5G capability added.
Using technology, a driverless car will consume as much data in 90 minutes as 1000 smartphones do over an entire month.
So, this is pretty speculative, but if you read the hype self-driving cars are designed to give consumers back time. Instead of focusing on traffic, they might read a book.
With a better, hassle-free commute, we won’t have to worry about driving long distances to work or social events.
So as buyers we may be more persuaded to choose a property in a location further away.
What else do you need to know?
5G is more than just great internet – it’s about connectivity. But while we are planning our faster data future, don’t forget what it really needs to do is enable better and more effective human to human communication.
