不顧中美貿易戰硝煙四起，腐國人民開始偷偷嚐鮮華爲助力的5G

最近一段時間，貿易戰、華爲、稀土，輪番佔據中美兩國媒體關注榜的C位。不過，英國卻在今天啓用了包含有華爲設備的5G網絡。

英國電信集團（British Telecom，簡稱BT）旗下的移動通訊運營商EE公司於今日（5月30日）啓動其5G網絡服務。

(圖 via Getty Images)

首先試點5G網絡服務的僅有6座城市，包括倫敦（London）、加的夫（Cardiff）、愛丁堡（Edinburgh）、貝爾法斯特（Belfast）、伯明翰（Birmingham）和曼徹斯特（Manchester）。

那麼，英國5G網絡的嚐鮮價是多少呢？

根據BBC的報道，那價格可是相當辣手啊：起步價爲每月54英鎊，外加一次性花費170英鎊購買兼容5G的手機。

難怪BBC評價說，假如你覺得自己夠有錢，又碰巧住在網絡覆蓋的城市，那你就去嚐嚐鮮吧！

當然，代價是高昂的。

But bear in mind that buys you only 10GB of data a month, which you will be likely to chew through fairly quickly if you take advantage of the next-generation technology to download lots of media.但請記住，每月（54英鎊）只是購買10GB流量，如果你利用這種新一代技術下載大量內容，你很可能很快就消耗掉了這些流量。For many people, it may make sense to wait - and not just to take advantage of rival offers from Vodafone, which starts its own 5G service in about five weeks.對許多人來說，等待可能更合理，這不僅僅在於利用BT的競爭對手沃達豐(Vodafone)開出的合約報價。沃達豐將在大約5周後推出自己的5G服務。The two operators are launching in select cities only.這兩家運營商都只在選定的城市開展業務。And even there, the connectivity will be patchy, sometimes offering only outdoor connectivity, sometimes none at all - so customers will probably default to a slower 4G signal much of the time. 即便在那些城市，網絡連接也將是斷斷續續的，有時只在戶外有網絡連接，有時完全沒有網絡信號——因此客戶可能會在大部分時間默認使用較慢的4G信號。

▲5G: Finally, it's here in the UK - but so what? (via BBC)

圖中所示深綠色部分爲曼徹斯特市5G信號覆蓋區域 (圖 via EE)

那麼理論上，5G網絡的速度有多快呢？

據英國通信管理局（Ofcom），5G峯值傳輸速率能高達20Gbps。

這是個什麼概念呢？

That is fast enough to download an ultra-high definition 4K movie in less time than it takes to read its description.這一速度足以讓你在閱讀一部電影簡介的那一小段時間內，下載完這部超高清4K電影。But for now, you should temper your expectations.但是目前，你應該降低你的期望值。To start with, the fibre lines EE is using to link each 5G site to its network have a total capacity of only 10Gbps, which must be shared around. 剛開始階段，EE用於將每個5G站點連接到其網絡的光纖線路的總容量只有10Gbps，還必須共享。The network has suggested that, on average, users will achieve about 150-200Mbps downloads at launch, with lucky individuals hitting about 1Gbps at quiet times.該網絡運營商表示，平均而言，用戶在啓動時的下載速度將達到150-200Mbps左右，而幸運的用戶在網絡不太繁忙時的下載速度將達到1Gbps左右。So, wait times for such big files will still be measured in minutes rather than seconds.因此，下載如此大的文件的等待時間，仍然是以分鐘而不是以秒來計算的。

▲5G: Finally, it's here in the UK - but so what? (via BBC)

當然，5G網絡的好處，可不僅僅在於更快的手機下載上傳文件的速度。

5G網絡更重要的意義在於，它可以同時提供多種連接。

In theory, 5G will be able to simultaneously support more than a million devices per sq km (0.4 sq miles), a big jump over the 60,000-odd devices that 4G technology maxes out at.從理論上講，5G將能夠同時支持每平方公里(0.4平方英里)內100多萬臺設備，與4G技術最多支持的6萬臺左右設備相比，有很大飛躍。Futurists envisage benefits such as a customer's smart-home automatically ordering the ingredients for meals that have been nutritionally tailored to their activities, while retailers make use of related data to ensure they have the right amount of stock to hand, thus minimising lost sales and goods going to waste.未來學家設想5G網絡的好處包括，顧客的智能家居會自動買菜，做飯所需食材成分的營養搭配也會根據用戶的需求定製，而零售商則利用相關數據來確保他們有適當的庫存，從而將銷售損失和浪費的商品降至最低。So, while 4G made it possible to start controlling internet-connected devices from afar, 5G should enable a multitude of machine-to-machine communications, allowing decisions to be made for people rather than by them.因此，雖然4G使遠程控制聯網設備成爲可能，但5G應該能夠實現多種機器之間的相互通信，讓機器自己而不是人類自身來做決定，從而爲人類服務。

▲5G: Finally, it's here in the UK - but so what? (via BBC)

(圖 via VCG)

因此，EE董事長馬克·阿萊拉（Marc Allera）此前接受英國《金融時報》採訪時表示，4G的推出爲奈飛（Netflix）和Uber的崛起鋪平了道路，而5G可能會產生更廣泛的影響。

“We take it for granted now but it changed our behaviour. So what new services will rise on this new network? We don’t know, but our job is to build that network,” he said.“我們現在認爲這是理所當然的，但它改變了我們的行爲。那麼，在這個新的網絡上，會出現哪些新的服務呢？我們不知道，但是我們的工作是建立起這個網絡，”他說。

▲EE and Vodafone pull Huawei phones from UK 5G launch (via Financial Times)

不過，給這項技術在英國的發展蒙上陰影的是，英國電信運營商迫於美國禁令的壓力，正打算將華爲設備從5G網絡中撤出。這將給英國的5G發展帶來怎樣的影響呢？

(圖 via Getty Images)

BBC評論說，限制華爲的基礎設施設備，對英國運營商來說，將是一個非常頭大的問題。

EE and Vodafone would have to strip out some of their existing Huawei kit, which does double-duty for both 4G and 5G.EE和沃達豐將不得不剝離部分現有的華爲設備，這些設備同時承擔4G和5G的雙重功能。Both have indicated that if their engineers had to replace it, that would slow their ability to roll out 5G.兩家公司都表示，如果他們的工程師不得不替換它，這將延緩他們推出5G的速度。Telefonica's O2 hasn't widely deployed Huawei's equipment to date but is engaged in a network-sharing agreement with Vodafone, so would still be affected.到目前爲止，西班牙電信旗下的O2尚未廣泛部署華爲的設備，但它與沃達豐簽署了網絡共享協議，因此仍將受到影響。And Three has signalled that it plans to use the Shenzhen-based company's 5G products.而Three則表示，計劃使用這家總部位於深圳的公司的5G產品。All of which means that while the UK is one of the first European countries to launch 5G, it could still end up taking longer to expand it nationwide than many of its continental counterparts.所有這些都意味着，儘管英國是首批推出5G的歐洲國家之一，但最終在全國推廣5G的時間可能仍會比歐洲大陸的許多國家要長。

▲5G: Finally, it's here in the UK - but so what? (via BBC)

當然，英國也可以選擇使用其盟友美國的5G技術和設備，但好不好用呢？

今天，馬來西亞總理馬哈蒂爾爲華爲站臺的一番話最能說明問題了。