One of the fruits of technology that we are taking advantage today is wireless network communication. It went through many developments from analog to digital before it reached 5G – the answer to the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth and speed.
Here is a quick history of the wireless telecommunication:
1G: How it all Started (1987 to 1991)
1G only got its name after 2G was put to use. The first generation of this mobile network is analog in nature, much like a voice call network only. Among the issues encountered with 1G are poor voice quality and the absence of security.
2G: The Rise of Digital (1991 to 2001)
Digital signals were finally used in the second generation through a wireless digital tool called Global System for Mobile (GSM). Sending of Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is now possible with 2G with encrypted and much clearer calls than 1G.
3G: Media Streaming Revolution (2001 to 2009)
The third generation has data transfer capabilities four times faster than 2G, allowing media streaming and large data transfer to be possible. It powered the smartphones we now love and opened doors for universal access across different device types.
4G: Setting the Standard in a Faster World (2010 to 2019)
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) was introduced in this era, resulting from 3G redesign to achieve higher data rates and greater capabilities for multimedia tasks. The fourth generation is often explained with the acronym, MAGIC.
M – Mobile multimedia
A – Anytime anywhere
G – Global mobility support
I – Integrated wireless solution
C – Customized personal service
5G: The IoT Era (2019 and beyond)
The fifth generation promises connectivity like no other through seamless sharing of data across the globe. It is an era of developing standards to support the growing IoT with faster data rates, lower latency and cost, improved consistency, performance, capacity, and reliability.
5G has already started hitting the market and will continue to expand worldwide. It is 10 to 100 times faster than 4G and is expected to revolutionize human productivity by making IoT a reality.
From connecting people, we are now a few steps away from seamlessly connecting things. The journey to 5G may have taken us decades, but the development is astonishing. The capabilities of technological advancement are genuinely exceptional, and to find out how technology will catch up with the future demand is something to watch out for.
What are your thoughts?
