4G – What’s all the fuss about?

With the recent news in the press that Apple’s new iPad has 4G technology and that Everything Everywhere [the parent group of Orange and T-Mobile] It may be up and running on a 4G mobile network before the end of the year. I thought it might be helpful to explain what 4G really is.

Connectivity on the go.

When mobile phones were first introduced, there were no texting and certainly no data connectivity. Then came 2G or 2nd Generation networks and with them came the ability to transmit and receive data, although the speeds were really slow – 9.6kb / s – slower than the old, screechy, modem that I used to use in the early days of the Internet. Slowly, technology improved and data speeds increased, with later versions of 2G reaching speeds of about 56 kb / s, about the same as my last dial-up modem, just before I got on the bandwagon. wide.

Mobile communications are accelerating

Around 2001 a leap in speed was achieved with the introduction of third generation technologies, [3G] which, at its introduction, offered a speed four times faster than 2G, around 200kb / s [0.2Mb/s] and the constant evolution of technology caused the maximum speeds to increase to 7.2Mb / s theoretical, through HSDPA, although to withstand any change to reach this speed it is necessary to be in an area with sufficient coverage, with few users and to be stopped. .

Now fourth generation technologies are being rolled out around the world and phones and tablets that can take advantage of this new technology are being made available.

But what is this?

4G [4th Generation Mobile Technology] It is a set of standards that defines the requirements of a 4G network and the bar is very high. The current standard defines a 4G network as one that provides 100Mb / s for users on the go. [a speed that only a few years ago was the standard for wired networks around offices] and delivering 1 Gb / s to a stationary location or one moving at low speed, pedestrians for example, although the speeds actually achieved will be determined by so many variables that, like all speed promises, the realistic speed is likely to be a a little lower.

However, this is still a significant jump in connection speed, one that could cause mobile connectivity to exceed the speeds provided by a fixed line service, unless your fixed line goes down fiber optic.

It is worth noting that the UK is behind the curve in 4G, unusual for a country that, for so long, led the way: Korea introduced the first 4G network in 2006 and Scandinavia follows suit in 2009 and that networks 4G can also use names. such as WiMax and LTE [Long term evolution].