What can 4G do? To 4G, or not to 4G, that is the question

Posted by Hayden Allen-Vercoe on January 06 2012
Filed in Online Marketing Tips and Advice, Social Networking

If you’re reading this on your mobile then you are either hooked up to a wi-fi hotspot or using a 3G connection. I hope you are sitting snugly and enjoying a coffee from a multi-national coffee house as you read this – it wouldn’t seem right otherwise, would it?

So 4G is coming in the near(ish) future, 2013 to be precise. What can 4G do? We will get to that, but firstly, what is 3G?

In simple terms 3G is the third generation of mobile internet technology. 3G currently sits at a maximum of 14Mbps downstream and up to 5.8 Mbps upstream. But is 3G currently sufficient – the answer is yes. Current smart phones and other mobile web facilities are built around the current 3G system. That is not to say that they will not be able to cope with 4G, because many of them will, but it means that it is currently sufficient for the majority of users who utilise 3G for their mobiles.

If 3G is currently sufficient for most mobile users, then what can 4G do?

Two issues plague mobile technology: one speed and the other coverage. 4G technology seems to offer an emphatic challenge to the latter of those problems. New 4G technology promises speeds of up to 100Mbps when mobile and 1Gbps for a stationary user. Quite a leap from the current 3G format! 4G offers countless possibilities for the mobile internet user; they can stream video content in finer detail, download musically at a greater rate and improve general browsing speeds.

The other key area for mobile technology, coverage, is however, not so empathically solved. One of the key areas of debate surrounding the move to 4G is the current lack of accessible 3G signal. Therefore, without full 3rd generation coverage, is it too much too soon for 4G?

Also, various business factions have argued that establishing 4G will take too long and won’t be an improvement for people in rural areas. Ofcom has recently published findings that suggest that only 73% of current UK premises have access to 3G and they also suggest that only 13% of the UK geographically.

4G is currently being trialled in London and Cornwall. The trial has received good results and users are extremely impressed by the speeds offered by the latest generation of mobile internet. But it must be recognised that these users have guaranteed access to the full speeds of the 4G technology, therefore slightly skewing the trials relevance to the wider UK, where signal may or may not be available.

There can however be no doubt that when 4G arrives, and if it does fulfil the promises it has made in terms of coverage and speed, then the traditional method of home routing may be under threat.  What can 4G do?

Well, we will have to wait to see how it fits into our modern lives, but in the meantime sit tight and enjoy your home Wi-Fi for now, but in a few years you may be finding more mobile ways of accessing the net.

Alas, poor 3G! I knew him.