FMB members were recently invited to attend an online event covering “How 5G Will Change Our Lives Forever, and What it Means for Your Business”.

I attended and found the most interesting area for us was the Building and Implementing 5G talk, this was covered by Rhys Enfield, West Midlands Director of infrastructure Acceleration whose primary role is accelerating 5G development across the region, facilitating relationships between Local Authorities and operators working to ensure the public are the first to benefit.

4G was a step-change in what can be done with a mobile phone; providing access to things like online banking, snapchat, the ability to order a taxi and also offering broadband where there was previously no broadband. This saw the mobile phone evolve into a mobile computer, and 5G will have a similar impact for industry as 4G did for the consumer.

So what are the benefits of 5G for SME builders?

A report from Vodafone and WP Economics suggested that by 2030, the UK economy could benefit to the tune of over £150 billion through new technologies and capabilities.

The construction industry stands to benefit significantly from the development of private 5G networks. When it comes to commercial and public building works, enhanced mobile connectivity can provide many benefits, such as:

  • Sensors for monitoring building performance / efficiency and interventions to reduce energy usage and help us get to net zero carbon emissions.
  • High speed connections for consumers in these locations, enabling faster / more efficient communications between businesses and consumers.
  • Better internet connectivity, electrical, gas and renewable energy access points, making the affected homes more attractive to prospective buyers.
  • Reduced costs of deploying 5G connectivity technology at the new build stage relative to retrofitting later.

In the West Midlands alone, the key successes to date are:

  • Better planning approval rates.
  • The develop and trial of a connected map between Local Authorities and the West Midlands 5G Infrastructure acceleration team.
  • The removal of a telecoms moratorium in one Local Authority.
  • The West Midlands now has the best 5G coverage in the UK and by accelerating development by six months they have brought in more than one million pounds of social economic benefit to the region.

What 5G means for your business

Enhanced 5G internet connectivity means better IT infrastructure, greater social media access and more power to you in managing your business’s increasing digital presence.

This in turn allows you to access a larger market and makes it instantly accessible via the web. Your content can be distributed further and faster, magnifying your message and helping you reach more prospective clients.

For more information on this event or if you would like to suggest a topic that we should cover in our local events please do let me know by calling 07769 687 239 or emailing [email protected].

Related topics

Authors

Kiren Gill

Kiren Gill

FMB Central Director, Federation of Master Builders