A better, faster and stronger wireless internet is likely to bring the Otago region and the nation as a whole closer to employing futuristic technologies such as remote surgery via virtual operating theatre or autonomous vehicles.
That is according to a number of parties with a keen interest in the imminent technology upgrade.
Earlier in the month, Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, announced spare capacity in the 3.5GHz band would be put up for mobile network operators to offer 5G by the middle of next year.
Dunedin man Casey Davies-Bell (25) has recently been appointed community manager for Kiwi Landing Pad, a support group for New Zealand entrepreneurs here and overseas.
Mr Davies-Bell said 5G would be a game-changer for technology companies with speeds up to 100 times faster than with 4G.
It would also be important because it would allow more devices to be connected at once.
"From a start-up lens, you can imagine being hyperconnected into all these different devices, it opens up a new platform for incredibly bright and talented entrepreneurs throughout our country ... to take advantage of this emerging technology to provide innovation to the world that’s never been done before."
He used the example of a car accident and how 5G would allow emergency services to be notified immediately.
"Imagine there’s an accident at an intersection and emergency services are able to be alerted to that before the first bystander has the chance to pick up their phone."
Dunedin’s economic development agency said the city’s health and gaming sectors would reap the most benefits from a successful 5G network.
Enterprise Dunedin economic development programme manager, Fraser Liggett, has been researching the effect of 5G networks in the United Kingdom.
He said 5G would bring growth in virtual reality technology.
"The augmented and virtual reality applications that 5G is expected to support could have significant applications in various industries — particularly retail, property, entertainment, gaming and connection to things such as the recently announced Centre of Digital Excellence (Code)."
Healthcare would also benefit, Mr Liggett said.
"Services such as remote and robotic surgery are developing fast. Remote patient monitoring and patient records access are advancing rapidly too.
"The hope is that services such as these will free up resources and offer greater convenience, independence and choice for patients.
"Transforming the healthcare industry will also offer new business opportunities for various types of businesses, including telcos, app developers, pharmaceutical companies, wearable device manufacturers, government health organisations and more."
University of Otago computer science senior lecturer, Haibo Zhang, reiterated the importance a 5G network would have on virtual reality technology.
"One example is real-time VR/AR [virtual reality/augmented reality].
"Sport fans would be able to watch a rugby match at home while making them feel they are at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.
"Another example is remote surgery. A surgeon may not need to be in the same room as a patient in the future."
The accuracy of the Global Position System, or GPS, would also improve under 5G, said Dr Zhang.
He was working with his research team on getting GPS accuracy down to within a centimetre, which was vital to future technologies like autonomous vehicles.
"My research team is currently developing novel positioning schemes that combine Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and 5G networks with large antenna arrays to achieve centimetre-level positioning accuracy.
"Many applications such as autonomous driving, UAV navigation and surveying require precise positioning at the centimetre level."
A 5G network was rolled out in Queenstown earlier this month by Vodafone New Zealand.
The network started with three 5G-enabled sites in Queenstown CBD, a hill above the Frankton-Ladies Mile highway and in the airport vicinity.
Vodafone also has 5G sites in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
