5G RedCap and Events: What It Means for Payment Terminals, Cameras and Sensors

What is 5G RedCap?

RedCap, short for Reduced Capability and originally called NR-Light, is a device category defined by 3GPP in Release 17. It sits between low-power IoT technologies and full-featured 5G smartphones and routers. The aim is a cheaper, smaller and more power-efficient 5G radio for devices that need moderate throughput rather than the highest speeds.

According to 3GPP and the Global mobile Suppliers Association, the main design changes are:

• Narrower channels: an FR1 (sub-7 GHz) RedCap device uses a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz during and after initial access, compared with much wider channels on full 5G devices.
• Fewer antennas: a RedCap device can have a single receive branch, which supports one downlink MIMO layer. Two receive branches support two layers.
• No carrier aggregation or dual connectivity: the device stays on one carrier at a time.
• Power saving: extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) and relaxed neighbour-cell measurements help stationary or battery devices sleep longer.
• Peak rates: the GSA cites peaks of up to 226 Mbps downlink and 120 Mbps uplink for Release 17 RedCap. These are theoretical peaks, not what a device sees in a busy cell.

Release 18 adds enhanced RedCap (eRedCap), which caps the peak rate at 10 Mbps in each direction for even simpler, lower-cost devices.

Which event devices are likely to use RedCap?

3GPP lists industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance and wearables as the Release 17 target use cases, and the GSA adds point-of-sale devices and fixed wireless access units. At events and temporary sites that maps to:

• Card payment terminals with a built-in mobile connection, used at market stalls, bars and exhibitor booths.
• Temporary CCTV and site cameras on construction sites, car parks and festival perimeters.
• Sensors and telemetry such as crowd counters, generator and fuel monitoring, and environmental sensors.
• Staff wearables and handhelds such as ticket scanners and radios that use mobile data.
• Small fixed wireless routers that give a site office or booth a modest internet link.

None of these need multi-gigabit speeds. They need a connection that stays up, wakes quickly and does not drain a battery by mid-afternoon, which is exactly the trade-off RedCap makes.

What RedCap does not fix at crowded events

The most common misunderstanding is that a newer radio standard solves congestion. It does not. At a festival, stadium or packed exhibition hall, the limit is usually the capacity of the nearby mobile cells, shared by every phone in the crowd. A RedCap terminal competes for the same cell resources as everyone else.

The GSA notes that RedCap requires a functioning 5G standalone (SA) core and that roaming support is still early. If a RedCap-only device lands in an area without standalone 5G, it may have no service at all. Before relying on any new device, confirm whether it can also fall back to 4G.

How should organisers plan event devices around RedCap?

Treat RedCap as a better radio inside the device, not as a network plan. A practical approach for events and temporary sites:

1. List every connected device, including terminals, scanners, cameras and sensors, and note whether each uses WiFi, a built-in mobile connection or both.
2. Put payments on a managed network. At busy events, run payment terminals on a dedicated WiFi network or VLAN with its own internet link, and keep the built-in mobile connection as the backup. Our EFTPOS payment network service is built around this approach.
3. Check coverage on site, at the right time. Test standalone 5G and 4G at the actual booth or camera position, ideally during a comparable crowd, not on an empty bump-in morning.
4. Keep fallback options. Prefer devices that support both 5G and 4G. For critical links, use a separate backup internet path rather than a second device on the same congested cells.
5. Size the WiFi side normally. Plan about 1.5–2 devices per staff member, roughly one device per person for public areas, about 50 devices per access point and around 900 m² per access point in open areas.
6. Separate traffic. Keep payments, cameras, staff and guest traffic on separate networks so one busy group cannot starve another.

The event network planner helps you count devices and access points before you talk to anyone about hardware.

What about temporary CCTV and construction sites?

Video surveillance is one of the RedCap use cases named by 3GPP, and it is a good fit for single cameras at remote points where running cable is not practical. For larger sites, it is still usually better to bring cameras back over a local network to one uplink, so recording and remote viewing do not depend on each camera finding a strong mobile signal on its own.

• Check each camera's configured bitrate and multiply by the number of cameras that upload at the same time.
• Record locally where possible, and use the mobile link for remote viewing and alerts.
• On construction sites, coverage often changes as buildings rise, so recheck signal as the structure grows.

See temporary CCTV installation and construction site internet for how we approach combined camera and network setups.

When will RedCap matter for Australian events?

RedCap depends on two things arriving together: devices with RedCap modules, and mobile networks running a 5G standalone core in the areas you operate. 3GPP completed the Release 17 functional freeze in 2022. As of April 2025, the GSA had identified 30 operators in 21 countries investing in RedCap, with commercial tests and pilots across several regions including Asia-Pacific, and certified modules starting to emerge. Availability in a given Australian location depends on the network and the area, so check with your provider and test on site rather than assuming.

For most event organisers, the practical message is simple: newer payment terminals and cameras may use RedCap, which helps with cost and battery life, but the event still needs a planned network. If you are not sure what your site needs, send us the floor plan and event details and we will suggest a setup.

Sources

1. 3GPP: A Glimpse into RedCap NR devices
2. 3GPP partner news (GSA): 5G RedCap, Unlocking Scalable IoT and FWA Innovation
3. 3GPP: Release 17

Event dates, prices and product details can change. Check the organiser or manufacturer before you plan around them. Planning figures are starting points; every network is confirmed against the actual site.