It may take us a while before we get to enjoy blazing fast 5G Internet connection but while waiting, there’s the 4G we need to focus on. Truth is, this kind of connectivity isn’t widely available yet in most parts of the world. Even if it’s ready in many places, there’s the question of reliability and speed. The next few years will be spent on streamlining 5G infrastructure deployment, working on the technology and standards, plus connectivity trials. Some tests are already being conducted this year but we’re way ahead of the 2020 plan.
This 5G connectivity may come sooner than expected but honestly, people won’t care about it much, at least for now, if the 4G networks today are still problematic. Such is not the case in Finland because one of the mobile carriers in the country has achieved a new world record for its 4G download speeds–1.9 gigabits per second (1.9 Gbps). That’s really fast for 4G, thanks to a Huawei technology when it was tested in a Helsinki lab. That’s the fastest so far and we’re not surprised why they’re the fastest today.
The Elisa network in Finland has a record of user consumption of 12GB of data every month. That’s a lot of data for each person per month but the Finns are said to “consume more data per capita” according to IEEE because other nations only use 2GB/month per person.
At present, Finland has about three million smartphone users. Multiply that to the 12GB data average, you’ll get the amount used by all of the 220 million smartphone users in India.
We’re expecting a future where mobile data consumption will grow further from today until the commercial availability of 5G in 2020. That’s five years from now so imagine how the speed and technology will develop.
We can’t imagine the top speed right now but we’re guessing it will definitely be blazing fast. Meanwhile, the 4G networks still have more room for improvement. Elisa’s speed is record-breaking so we’re expecting a lot from this Finnish carrier. We’ll see.
SOURCE: IEEE SPECTRUM
