India will start rolling out 5G this month, and the technology is bound to have a major impact on how services are delivered to consumers and businesses. While previous generations of cellular technology (2G to 4G) were all about faster data speeds, 5G promises to change the DNA of the user experience.

Experts believe 5G will be a potential enabler for widespread adoption of blockchain technology in trade finance, logistics, healthcare, education and more. Sunil David, Co-Chair of the Digital Communications Working Group of the IET Future Technology Group, said: “5G, through its power of very low latency, high speed and huge capacity coverage, will allow Internet of Things (IoT) devices to be widely used. This means smart cities, unmanned Sensor-driven enhancements for driving cars, smart homes, and other industrial use cases will finally have a technology that can handle their unique needs."

The Internet of Things is Internet-connected devices ranging from laptops and smartphones to heavy industrial machines. These devices integrate advanced chips and sensors that enable them to communicate over the Internet and exchange information smoothly. 5G provides a huge application space for IoT devices, as its ultimate goal is to reduce network bandwidth and enable normal communication between devices. Since the current IoT model is centralized, it means one entity owns it, making it riskier for wider adoption. This is where blockchain comes in, with its promise of decentralization, meaning no one controls how these devices operate, and every data transfer is recorded in a distributed ledger, giving users complete control over their privacy. This is not possible on 4G networks.

Dr. Ravi Chamria, CEO and co-founder of the Blockchain Infra automation platform, told indianexpress.com: “4G cannot fully meet the latency and density requirements of this ecosystem. 5G is not only designed to increase speed and latency, it also allows driving in proximity to approach to help a distributed and decentralized application ecosystem.”

An example of the use of 5G in blockchain could involve a network of vehicles to enable the sharing of traffic information. For example, two vehicles on the road will be able to communicate with each other and provide information such as safety warnings. This can effectively avoid accidents and traffic jams. However, this data may be used by third-party companies to send spam. The implementation of blockchain can solve this problem.

Blockchain plus 5G has the potential to disrupt the telecom industry, experts say. One of the major challenges facing the telecom industry today is generating bills when users travel abroad. International roaming charges are exorbitant because there are multiple parties involved in ensuring users have access to the mobile network, which means that for every small mobile data user uses, roaming charges have to be paid manually and then billed. This is not only expensive, but also inconvenient for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Edul Patel, CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency investment platform Mudrex, said: "Blockchain is based on transparency and can prevent rising consumer costs from cross-border settlements, and 5G will ensure international roaming and cross-border mobile phone network compatibility. and effectiveness."

Perhaps one of the most interesting upgrades in the world of blockchain and crypto, however, is the presentation of the metaverse. The metaverse is the concept of a 3D digital world that evolves the internet into a more immersive spatial network, accessible through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets as well as traditional computing devices such as PCs and smartphones .

Patel explained: “To fully replicate the physical world in a virtual ecosystem requires a lot of internet bandwidth. The faster the internet, the faster the rendered version of the physical world will be, the better. 5G has the potential to enable real-time reproduction of different physical environments. Maybe That's why tech companies are heavily integrating 5G into their technology."

It's not just 5G that enables blockchain. The two complement each other. 5G will provide the required infrastructure for machine-to-machine interactions, and blockchain will ensure the reliability and security of data, enabling smarter and faster value functions. David added: “Adding 5G to the existing 4G network architecture will bring more feature-rich user experiences across the business. From financial services to retail, manufacturing, healthcare to media and entertainment, we are starting to see 5G had an unprecedented impact.”​