In previous posts, we have discussed the investment case for African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARCInvest) and pointed out that it trades at a significant discount to NAV. One of the major investments in the ARCInvest stable is RAIN which has brought out the first 5G Network in South Africa. But what exactly is 5G and why does it matter?

5G is a new cellular wireless standard that promises to bring faster internet speeds to mobile devices, and bring more services to market.

But what is 5G?

The term stands for the fifth-generation standard, or 5G, for mobile telecommunications. 5G uses a higher-frequency band of the wireless spectrum, called millimeter wave, that allows data to be transferred much faster than the lower-frequency band dedicated to 4G.

One of the key benefits from this new wireless standard is that 5G speeds will be up 100 times faster than 4G, and it will help create new services and technologies that wouldn’t be possible without it.

For example, the vast Internet of Things industry will need faster and more reliable networks to bring about driverless cars, industrial automation, and connected smart cities, which are all in their infant stages right now.

Some estimates put the total amount of worldwide Internet of Things devices at 75 billion by 2025.

But before we get there, wireless carriers need to build out massive 5G networks. Thankfully, many of them have already started taking steps to get there.

Verizon has the goal of launching 5G in 30 cities by the end of the year, and has already flipped the 5G switch in several large metro areas.

The company has a lot of incentive to get 5G up and running as fast as possible, considering the new wireless standard’s massive potential.

The CEO of Verizon’s consumer division has said that “By 2035, 5G will enable $12.3 trillion of global economic output and support 22 million jobs worldwide.”