5G set to revolutionise the construction industry

We reveal how the use of 5G ‘network slicing’ could bring significant benefits to the construction industry

5G has already made its way to the construction industry in 2020. Earlier in the year, we detailed China State Construction Engineering Corp’s (CSCEC) 5G construction site which was the first site to utilise the technology in the nation. 

The site has brought a plethora of benefits to on-site construction through the adoption of innovative technologies such as AI, building information modelling (BIM) and big data.

5G’s ‘network slicing’ capability allows communication service providers to tailor connectivity services to precise requirements of a given app, user, device or context.

Successful on-site monitoring requires effective tracking of health, location, status and specifications of all objects and people. 5G is expected to enable better data collection, capture and analysis in many different areas. An example of this includes the status of site machinery, and whether it’s available for use.

Thanks to high bandwidth, combined with the very low latency that 5G offers, the technology is set to improve data capture significantly across various project delivery processes.

Thanks to 5G and digital transformation as a whole, more and more cutting edge technologies are being introduced to the construction industry which will enable the industry to see more IoT and reality-capture solutions utilised on-site.

These new technologies have the ability to provide real-time visual information to the owner in addition to an on-demand transparent view of the project at any particular moment in time.

5G network slicing can also provide even more benefits to the construction industry.

Burcin Kaplanoglu, Executive Director, Innovation Officer at Oracle, “network slicing enables communication service providers to tailor connectivity services to the precise requirements of any given application, user, device, or context.”

In order for 5G to work effectively on-site, connectivity is vital to ensure information is captured and available at all times, whenever needed.

As a result of this, bandwidth could be set to become a potential battleground on site which highlights the need for tiered prioritisation.

Different access points and levels for specific use-cases will be required. Kaplanoglu estimates that a tiered prioritisation strategy that considers safety, security, and bandwidth at different phases of a construction project could be implemented.

Regardless of how 5G will weave itself round construction sites across the globe, the advantages of 5G and ‘network slicing’ opens up many new possibilities for engineering and construction businesses. Benefits such as better safety, mitigation of risk and a reduction of security concerns could all be useful benefits thanks to the technology.