With fifth generation (5G) technology widely expected to deliver an “explosion of possibilities”, South Africa has an opportunity to kick off its own 5G journey in 2022 – when the Commonwealth Games descend on Durban, says multinational communication and information technology company Nokia.

Nokia advanced mobile network solutions vertical solutions head for the Middle East and Africa Noel Kirkaldy noted that this new-generation technology, which promises to unlock “extreme broadband and ultra-robust, low-latency connectivity” is going to be the “ocean” and not just the second-, third- and fourth-generation “fish” in the ocean. It promises to transform individual lives, the economy and society.

“In the ocean, there are still things yet to be discovered and this is analogous to what we are doing in 5G, because the actual 5G specifications have not yet been agreed,” he pointed out.

Kirkaldy told Engineering News Online on the sidelines of the Southern Africa Telecommunication Networks and Applications Conference (Satnac) 2016, in George, on Tuesday, that South Africa could use the Commonwealth Games as something of a definitive baseline for entry into the new generation of connectivity.

“This is a line in the sand, this is a definitive time, it is a definitive focus [toward 5G deployment]. My call out is, as a collective industry – academia, media, vendors, operators – let us use this as a milestone,” he urged.

While it does not mean that the country should necessarily wait until then to start its own 5G programmes, the Commonwealth Games do provide a “logical target” or opportunity to showcase 5G technology, as is the case with Korea regarding the upcoming Winter Olympics in 2018 and with Japan and the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Prestandard trials would start as early as next year in preparation for the events, with prestandard showcase deployment in Korea in 2018, Kirkaldy noted during his Satnac presentation this week.

The showcase will see multiple video streams to mobile devices, which will include user-dictated views, camera feeds and camera angles, as well as 360° virtual reality head-mounted displays.

It is expected that holographic devices will be available for interviews with the athletes, while safety and security will be monitored through flying drones, facial recognition and authorised personnel access control.

This is the beginning phase for 5G, which, on the extreme side, can deliver in excess of 10 Gb/s peak data rates, as well as 100 Mb/s whenever it needs, to cater for 10 000 times more traffic and a million connected devices per square kilometre with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Kirkaldy explained that there was a need to ensure that the capacity and capability was in place to handle the billions of devices and their sensors that would be interoperable through IoT.

He added that all the devices and “things” that everyone used on a daily basis – "every light, every electricity meter, every vending machine, every parking meter” – would eventually be connected, further noting that each person in a household already had between 5 and 15 things that could be remotely controlled.

“It is not just about a couple of things, it is about everything interworking. That is what we are headed towards,” said Kirkaldy.

This journey has already begun, with the inflection point occurring in 2008 when the number of connected devices had surpassed the number of people.