We’ve spent years encouraging the industry to embrace new technologies, look to the future and innovate advances but, as with all good things, perhaps this is best in moderation.
We have watched in earnest as 5G communications have launched with Vodafone, Three, EE and O2 in London over the last few months.
Proponents of 5G argue that 4G will struggle to cope with increasing demands from the growing number of devices that demand internet access. The TV ads told us that 5G will let us use Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR) through our smart phones which will revolutionise our daily lives with “immersive experiences”.
5G is predicted to offer advancements in speed, coverage and reliability, particularly because of “network slicing”. Network slicing allows the network to be split into different segments, and separated for specific purposes; for example allowing Emergency Services to have connectivity unaffected by everything else around them. This system of layers also allows video and other media at concerts, for example, to travel through different channels to the fire alarm system in the building, meaning that the two very different but important pieces of information do not interfere with one another.
Of course, the US is already further ahead and there were a number of suppliers with stands at Realcomm in Nashville this year – digital backbones in new buildings are now commonplace and some are already powered by 5G comms. And in the UK we have already been asked about our views on 5G in the built environment by forward looking property investors.
5G is the latest in a long line of innovative technologies – blockchain, AI, Virtual Reality – that can revolutionise the way we live and work. Individually they are fun to look at and some of the applications are very impressive. But we are probably looking at them through the wrong end of the telescope. What we mean is that we have no idea how to apply these revolutions because we are looking at the property industry as a whole and trying to spot where to apply a solution – rather than, more effectively, spotting areas of business that must improve and then picking a single solution.
The most successful Proptech companies have harnessed technology to solve a problem, rather than focused on the technology first. Indeed, at a panel we organised at the London Realcomm CIO Forum, we talked for nearly an hour about customer experience without once mentioning technology. The best technology is invisible.
The US technology suppliers at Realcomm were candid and told us that the first big implementations of 5G will be in stadiums where there is a need for low level building systems to work alongside the requirement for media and press photograph files. Outside this, 4G will probably suffice for a while.
This might give most of us the chance to perfect the basics such as reporting, workflow, and customer service – for example, rent collection is still at less than 80% on the due date (new Remit REMark report) - before having to embrace immersive customer experiences.
