January/February 2010

Ultra High-Speed Broadband - What is 4G?

The fourth generation of cellular wireless standards are called 4G.  The goal is to provide gigabit speeds to mobile and stationary users.  The term ultra-broadband is used to define the gigabit speeds for high-speed internet access delivered by a variety of devices.  The IEEE 802.16m project list speeds as 100Mbit/s mobile and 1Gbit/s fixed.  

Networks, often called 4G, are really 3G Partnership Project Long Term Evolutions or 3GPP LTE. The terminology gets confusing, but the important point to remember is that with 3G and 4G networks cellular aims to provide speeds that match or exceed wired telephony.  As the infrastructure expands, wireless networks will offer reliability, cost savings and flexible plans.  Today, we most often see wireless internet or IP access on a cell phone, through an air card attached to a PC or a wireless router.

Many businesses still rely on wired telephony solutions to provide high-speed internet, traditional and VoIP telephone, cable and TV service.  We often hear the terms T1, DSL and Cable Modem to describe these wired technologies.

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