According to eMarketer.com, there were ~300 million mobile connected broadband devices worldwide in 2009 with that number predicted to be somewhere around 1.3 billion in 2014.
2G (GSM) technology is used worldwide, but data rates are limited. This makes tasks like video conferencing and music and video downloads slow. 3G technology allows for data rates of ~2Mbps (with practical data rates topping out at ~384Kbps or even less). But as more mobile users clamor for access to e-mail, streamed and downloaded music and videos, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks and more, 3G networks are becoming oversubscribed at times and performance and reliability can be less than ideal.
While still on the drawing board, 4G networks will offer much faster broadband service than their 3G cousins with the promise of data rates of up to 100Mbps between any two points in the world and 1Gbps while stationary. Femtocells, low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections, will provide consumers (and businesses) with ‘connected home‘ capabilities.
Femtocell House Diagram - femtoforum.org
4G will use an IP-based packet switching network, digital switches and offer improved QoS, security and high quality voice channels. With a higher data rate and broader bandwidth capability, 4G technology will focus on providing seamless service across a multitude of wireless networks and systems.
There are two major systems in the US rolling out 4G technology today. One is Clearwire’s WiMax (majority owned by Sprint Nextel) and the other is Long Term Evolution (LTE) (backed by Verizon).
The promise of 4G, as the next generation of mobile broadband technology, offers huge potential to wireless carriers, network equipment makers, applications developers and wireless consumers.
What are your thoughts about 4G? We’d love to hear from you.
