4G - So Fast It'll Blow Your Mind!

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7943' target='_blank'>http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7943</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Cellphones capable of transmitting data at blistering speeds have been demonstrated by NTT DoCoMo in Japan. In experiments, prototype phones were used to view 32 high definition video streams, while travelling in an automobile at 20 kilometres per hour. Officials from NTT DoCoMo say the phones could receive data at 100 megabits per second on the move and at up to a gigabit per second while static. At this rate, an entire DVD could be downloaded within a minute. DoCoMo's current 3G (third generation) phone network offers download speeds of 384 kilobits per second and upload speeds of 129 kilobits per second."</i><br /><br />It's cruel knowing that while some countries are struggling hard to get 3G off the ground, everybody's technological playground, Japan, has pushed 4G prototypes to roughly 100Mbps on-the-go, and up to 1Gbps in a stationary position. :drool:

[Paragon]

It's cruel knowing that while some countries are struggling hard to get 3G off the ground

3G??? Crud, here in Canada we're still struggling with 2G! :twisted: The crank broke on my home phone the other day....

[ricksfiona]

Before we go off on how slow other countries are to keep up with other countries in the technological playgound, we gotta remember one thing: space.

Japan is tiny. These are facts from the CIA:
Japan: 127 milion people, 377,000 sq km land/water.
U.S.: 296 million, 9,600,000 sq km land/water.

Can't even compare the logistical and cost differences between the two countries.

What I do wonder though is that while the U.S. is so much bigger, the population density and technologically elite reside on the East and West coasts. Why not roll-out these technologies to these areas where it can be economically feasible and profitable?

[saru83]

3G??? Crud, here in Canada we're still struggling with 2G! :twisted: The crank broke on my home phone the other day....

Well yea, and that SUCKS... Rogers just lunched EDGE.... Ideally i would want Fido &amp; the Universal to support EDGE :twisted:

[mr_Ray]

Just imagine what someone like T Mobile would charge for this sort of access! Mobile data is already more than expensive enough as it is here (UK). Per MB rates of £2-5/MB are still common, with £0.80 being as low as most of them go.

I'm wondering if the severe drop in speed (drops by an order of magnitiude at only 2-3x walking pace) is starting to show hard limits in mobile data transfer? With a theoretical 1 billion bits flying at you per second, perhaps moving at even low speeds is just causing too much distortion oin the waves? I've not got the time or inclination to work out the numbers, but it'd be interesting to see if that is the case.

In that one second, at 20kph, you've moved over 5m causing a contraction/expansion (depending on movement direction) of the recieved waveform by up to that much. Perhaps that's a problem, perhaps not.

[Kiwi_in_tok]

Seems NTT is really pushing hard, we live in Japan and have 100meg (fiber) internet access - unlimited for about Yen4500 a month... However they have just offered to upgrade our network between their exchange and our DSU/NTU to 1G for the same price. We maintain the 100meg access however it seems they have some plans in the pipe line, will be intereting to see whay they offer as 1G is a lot of capacity however this seems to be in line with what DoCoMo is looking at?

[martin_ayton]

we live in Japan and have 100meg (fiber) internet access ... However they have just offered to upgrade our network between their exchange and our DSU/NTU to 1G
8O

As a serious question, is that actually useful? I'm no expert, but it strikes me that most web servers aren't going to be capable of throwing out data at that speed (network card limitations, internet connection speed, contention etc.) so is there really any point in being able to receive it? I have a (paltry) 1meg connection but I have never yet managed to max it out on a download or a stream.

For mobile stuff the same is true: once I have hit 3G speeds, any increase starts to become irrelevant, particularly with the sort of stuff I am going to want to download or stream to my PPC. Can I tell the difference between 'blindingly fast' and 'instant'? No.

[Kiwi_in_tok]

Not really sure what they are going to offer via the 1G, to be honest our current access is more than enough. But their offer is upgrading the NTU/DSU for free and 1 month free if you accept so what do you do. Its so much capacity I am guessing they don't even know what they will do, but I suppose it will be HDTV type of applications. I suppose its just at the other extreme of what the carriers are offering.

[Paragon]

Ideally i would want Fido &amp; the Universal to support EDGE :twisted:

I was informed yesterday by a buddy that you can use EDGE with a Fido SIM card. I haven't tried it myself, but he is using it daily.

Dave

[ricksfiona]

I just spoke to a friend yesterday who works in the mobile wireless industry and specializes in Asia. This is what he had to say:

Japan. People there have an average of $100 cell phone bills, where's here in the United States, there are people who 'pay as you go'. In the U.S., it's much harder to make a profit. People just won't pay for technology. Also, cell phone vendors haven't made their money back from investing in 2.5G technology in the U.S. Any wonder?

I did speak with him about WiMAX and how they are testing it in New York. It's working pretty good except there is a lot of opposition to it. Mainly, carriers don't want it since if it were implemented. Let's say the City of New York had a $20 ISP plan, all people would need to do is get Skype and thats the end of cell phone business for that area. Include DSL and Cable modem as well. It all makes sense.

[Mike Temporale]

Ideally i would want Fido &amp; the Universal to support EDGE :twisted:

I was informed yesterday by a buddy that you can use EDGE with a Fido SIM card. I haven't tried it myself, but he is using it daily.

Really.... That would rock! :mrgreen:

And here I thought it was doom and gloom (network expansion wise) for those of us on Fido. :lol:

[ADBrown]

Also, cell phone vendors haven't made their money back from investing in 2.5G technology in the U.S.

I find that hard to believe. Cingular is making what, $600-800 million a year in profit? Perhaps if you just figure revenue brought in from the 2.5G services themselves, but that's a silly way to look at it. You can't just look at one thing and determine whether it alone can pay for itself, you have to look at the service overall. Sometimes, it would make good business sense to do things which might not pay for themselves, but would provide a broader benefit to the company or the users. An example is implementing EDGE. It's not fast enough to sell as mobile broadband, like EVDO, but it adds to the quality of the service.

I did speak with him about WiMAX and how they are testing it in New York. It's working pretty good except there is a lot of opposition to it.

Excellent news. WiMax is one of the few options for broadband we'll ever likely see out here in the boondocks, so it's good to hear that it's working. My worst fear was that after all the hype, it would completely implode when tested.

Mainly, carriers don't want it since if it were implemented. Let's say the City of New York had a $20 ISP plan, all people would need to do is get Skype and thats the end of cell phone business for that area. Include DSL and Cable modem as well. It all makes sense.

You're right. The carriers and the ISPs would actually have to be price-competitive. How horrible.

I don't mean to sound snarky, I just have very little sympathy for the carriers. They charge vast amounts of money for what is, compared to modern technology, not a terribly high level of service, and rather than lower their prices to gain new subscribers, they raise their rates until they hit parity with the highest biller... because hey, if you've got them, why not bleed them? I'd have a lot more fondness if they didn't look on their customers as cattle to be milked.

I think that the future really lies in simple, cheaply operated broadband networks. You can do anything over broadband that you can do over a cell phone, landline, cable TV wire, or whatever else, and without having to take whatever your incumbent provider gives you. I can't get reasonably priced cell phone service, because the only providers in the area are CellularOne and Verizon. I can't get decent phone service, because the local phone company has a monopoly on my business, so they don't care that my phone line crackles and buzzes any time it rains. I can't get any kind of cable TV, since they don't feel like stringing wire on my road. Now all I need is reliable broadband, and some way to use broadband to get the town to fix the potholes on my road. But seriously, once built, broadband is cheap to operate, and can do an amazing number of things.