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Tracking the Workplace

5G promises monumental improvements to existing In Motion
mobile networks and revolutionary new applications
thanks to its touted super-fast speed, BearTracks monitors and controls

high-bandwidth capacity, and low latency. the flow of objects and services

as they move through your
workplace, giving you complete
The second-generation wireless network (2G) came with on-and-off switch to a vast network. The consequences will visibility at every step.
glimpses of a bright future by offering digital features in the be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It will be a combina-
early 1990s. Brick phones were replaced by smaller, slicker tion of multiple platforms and ‘smart’ everything. It’s only
devices like Motorola’s StarTAC. Every self-important chum slightly hyperbolic to say that pretty soon our toasters are
had to have one. The shared ritual of flipping open our phones going to be smarter than us. Inarguably, the 5G network
and extending the frail, little antenna made us feel like rock will be much faster than anything we’re used to. Concepts
gods in packed arenas. These small devices and the networks such as autonomous vehicles, remote medical procedures,
they ran on offered newly minted digital features like Caller ID, smart cities and buildings, IoT and artificial intelligence will
Short Messaging Service (texts) and 3-way calling. leverage the 5G network, but the real surprise will be the
applications we haven’t imagined yet.
Blackberry reigned supreme until the other ‘fruity’ company
introduced its revolutionary device to the world. It was the 3G Deploying 5G is an expensive and complex undertaking. Mail & Parcel Supply & Inventory Printer Fleet Rooms & Tasks
network that sparked the smart phone era. 3G was dubbed Mobile Network Operators will use a combination of low-,
the first truly high-speed and fully digital network, launching mid-, and high-band frequencies and rely heavily on fiber
around the world in the mid-2000s. Businesses and major optic networks. Fiber is the only medium capable of push-
enterprises came to rely on this network to get things done. ing high-bandwidth efficiently with minimal delay, which
Wireless became the standard medium of communication in is crucial to planned 5G network deployments. Relatively
modern society. We couldn’t get hold of our kids without tex- slower versions of 5G will probably be deployed using
ting them. Call quality was crisp, the internet was mobile, and low-band frequencies in rural or sparsely populated areas. DELIVER a complete CONTROL inventory MANAGE centralized MONITOR the status
there was video on our phones! Hoarding the precious min- Mid- or high-band frequencies will be used in dense urban chain of custody in real time printing facilities of scheduled services
utes allocated by carriers was common practice during the areas. Many more hidden antennas, sensors, and radio
1G and 2G ages. Unlimited calling became the norm during gadgetry will be installed everywhere.
3G. Tracking the number of text messages allowed under our
family plans was another monthly drudgery. Just because MNOs are beginning to deploy 5G doesn’t
mean they will immediately decommission existing 4G
Fast and even faster was the motto for 4G. Suddenly, we networks. Average network utilization lasts about 15 to 20
had to learn terms like megabyte (Mb) and gigabyte (Gb) years after deployment. It wasn’t until Jan 2017 that AT&T
because that’s how communication is measured in 4G shut down its 2G network in the US. Talk of shutting down
networks. Everything is about data consumption. Wireless the 3G network is ongoing. Some operators like Verizon IF IT MOVES, WE CAN TRACK IT
carriers deployed the 4G network—also known as LTE reportedly plan to end their 3G services by the end of 2019.
(Long Term Evolution)—in the early 2010s. Generations of Others will probably follow soon thereafter, leaving 4G LTE
smart mobile devices were already abundant in the mar- as the primary wireless network for years to come. This is No matter how big or how small your business, no matter what your industry, no matter where in
ket at this point and with them we developed an insatiable because large scale 5G network deployment hasn’t even the world your office is located, every workplace is in constant motion -- and Bear Tracks keeps
thirst for data, thanks in part to video and gaming content started yet. Realistically speaking, it will probably take pace with ease. Scalable, seamless, and easy to love, we’re engineered to follow the trail wherever
offered by streaming services. another three to five years before average consumers start it goes, capturing real-time operational insights to help reduce costs, increase efficiency, and
to experience the true capabilities the 5G network has to make you (and your workplace) smarter at every step.
And now 5G is coming: it’s 2019 and time for the next leap. offer. Until then 4G and Advanced LTE is here to stay.
This imminent advance will be no exception in terms of
the timeline, arriving approximately ten years after 4G. But What does this mean for Corporate and Commercial Real
it will definitely be different, because the technology to be Estate now—and in the near future? First, the benefits:
deployed is radical. 5G will connect every device with an Continued on page 66 510.834.5300 | bearriver.com | info@bearriver.com
©2017 Bear River

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