Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 5G (5th generation) telecom services at the India Mobile Congress in Delhi. The technology aims to deliver a communication system with high data rates, minimal latency and seamless coverage. It is expected to be operational by 2024–25.
Along with ongoing technologies, 5G has attempted to provide a long rope for new technologies, such as blockchain, metaverse, crypto, Web 3.0 and non-fungible tokens (NFT).
“5G will play a central role in promoting the use of Web 3.0 technologies. An increasing number of enterprises are embarking on the adoption of Web 3.0 technologies, and in particular metaverse, said Akhilesh Tuteja, Global Head of Cyber Security Consulting, and India Head – Digital Consulting, KPMG.
How will 5G help blockchain technology
Industry experts believe that 5G’s inherently higher speed and better energy management efficiency will facilitate the integration of Blockchain-related technologies, enhancing as well as improving commerce.
“Blockchain will ensure data reliability and security, thus enabling smarter and faster value functions in the complete overhaul. 5G can result in ultra-fast crypto transactions and more clarity for users, combined with reduced dormancy, sharp device connectivity and much lower costs,” says Dileep Seinberg, founder and CEO, MuffinPay, bill payment and utility crypto.
However, some technology experts believe that 5G will play a central role in providing seamless experience in social communication gaming and handling detailed 3D avatars of products.
“It will become visible when collaborating to design, demonstrate or service these products using virtual technology. In such cases, both latency and speed are key,” says Sunil Maheshwari – Co-Founder – StellAR-AugmentedReality.
Possibilities in Metaverse from 5G
Metaverse is about replicating a huge immersive world with lossless performance, millions of avatars, many real-time transactions, interactions and/or communication, along with an additional layer of XR, which requires multiple rendering, all of which requires a powerful, high-speed Internet, which 5G promises.
“There is no doubt that the consumption and various new use cases of metaverse will increase many times with the advent of 5G,” says Rajat Ojha, CEO of Gamitronics and PartyNite, a company behind metaverse technology.
Ojha further said that 5G promises consistent coverage and capacity, as well as mobility support, low latency and reliable communication to enable devices to load more to the edge and leverage edge rendering/streaming.
“Since these are essential for the metaverse to work seamlessly and provide a user experience like never before, there’s no doubt that the metaverse is only going to be more accessible to people,” he says.
Use Case in Metaverse
Metaverse of products will have many applications, one of them is digital twin, which will help industries to get visualization along with the huge amount of data generated from all machines in the industry with the help of IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, which will help i does predictive maintenance of mission-critical machines before they break down.
“It saves money, and most importantly, these machines would never destroy the systems, eg water supply pumping stations, power stations, machines that drive ships and/or submarines,” says Maheshwari.
How it will benefit the NFT industry
The NFT marketplace spun from a peak of $17 billion in early 2022 to $470 million in September 2022, a whopping 97 percent drop, data from Dune Analytics, a blockchain analytics firm, showed.
5G has now given people in the NFT industry hope for a revival.
“While there may not be a direct impact, 5G is expected to improve the quality of connectivity and reduce issues related to network bandwidth, especially when it comes to Blockchain/Web 3.0 gaming. The question of whether the network can support an intense game involving NFT- is going to be effectively answered by bringing 5G into the connectivity equation, says Arjun Reddy, CTO at Guardianlink, an NFT platform.
How it will affect cryptos
This upgrade will allow Blockchain-based applications that require real-time computing, such as DeFi platforms, crypto exchanges and payment systems, to thrive.
“5G will also open up opportunities for the development of applications, such as Blockchain-based IoT networks that can support millions of devices, which is virtually impossible for today’s infrastructure to handle,” said Shrikant Bhalerao, co-founder, Seracle, a Blockchain company.
Overall, the entire Blockchain industry is optimistic about 5G as it believes Blockchain will ensure data reliability and security, thereby enabling smarter and faster value functions in the complete overhaul. In addition, Seinberg notes that 5G could result in ultra-fast crypto transactions and more clarity for users, combined with reduced dormancy, crisp device connectivity, and much lower costs.
