5.5G makes smart manufacturing simple

(March 2024) 5G wireless technology supports 1.5bn users on more than 300 networks worldwide. But its potential to transform industry is just getting started.

The latest advance in 5G – known as 5G Advanced, or 5.5G – is radically changing how cars and other industrial products are made. 

“It’s a huge leap in capacity, and in latency, the reaction time of the network gets much shorter,” said Professor Boy Luthje of Germany’s Institute of Social Research, in a recent interview with Transform Talks. “This is what you need to deploy 5G in the networks of advanced factories.” 

5.5G gives factories more power to use industrial robots and to jettison the cables connecting robots and machines. Hard to install and maintain, cables can also force production lines to shut down if the cables get wet or are damaged, Luthje told Huawei Editor-in-Chief Gavin Allen. Wirelessly networked factories are much simpler and more efficient.