Wireless 4G Technology Beginning To Shape Up According to In-Stat

What is 4G?

At the moment 4G technologies are looking to be similar in many ways to the wireless networks that you may have used in your place of work or in your own home, only on a much larger scale and integrated into mobile devices as well as desktop solutions. For mobile users it will provide an `always on` mobile broadband connection so that voice calls, media streaming and internet access will be constantly at hand. Additionally the download speeds capable over 4G networking should be far greater than is currently available on 3G or indeed any home broadband service provided by a landline, with test 4G networks in China delivering 100 Mbps download speeds. What`s even better news is that this 100 Mbps speed is claimed by some companies to be the download speed available when the subject is on the move in a train or a car. If you're standing in one spot relative to the broadcasting beacon then up to 1 Gbps data transfer speed could be possible. This is literally an incredible development and a huge leap in terms of download speed and will no doubt further revolutionize the way in which we have access to the internet, as well as drastically lowering the cost of voice calls which use relatively little bandwidth.

4G Future Options

At the moment most people have mobile phones and many will also use wireless broadband, either in their own homes thanks to a wireless router or through a mobile broadband solution using 3G networks. Samsung and other large manufacturers have been demonstrating 4G technology, both WiBro (wireless broadband) and WiMAX for some years now, and there are already mobile phones available that use this technology like the HTC MAX 4G and the Nokia N810 WiMAX edition. Sadly 4G will not be available on a large scale for a few years as standardizations are made and more companies combine their efforts to define 4G, but when the time comes it will be an incredibly exciting product.

Hutchison 3G

3 is a brand name under which several UMTS based mobile phone networks are operated inAustralia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong and Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and theUnited Kingdom.

Hutchison Whampoa owns direct majority interests in the companies that operate the networks that are branded 3, except 3 Hong Kong and 3 Indonesia. These networks are majority-owned by the publicly listed Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL), in which Hutchison Whampoa has a 50.003 percent majority interest.

All 3-branded networks provide 3G technology (WCDMA, some also run 2G networks). Hutchison Whampoa also holds a 3G-license in Israel which operates under the brand Orange, and in Norwaywhich is not operational yet.^[1] As of 20 August 2008, registered 3 customers worldwide numbered over 19 million.

Bharti Airtel

The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities and has recently launched a Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Airtel digital TV. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station.

Mobile TeleSystems

Mobile TeleSystems (Russian: ОАО «Мобильные ТелеСистемы») or MTS (RTS:MTSSMICEX:MTSI) is the largest mobile operator in Russia and CIS with over 89.64 million subscribers as of April 30, 2008.^[1]. Not only does it lead in its domestic markets, but it was also ranked first in Western Europe in 4Q 2008 ^[2]

Having started in the Moscow license zone in 1994, МТS in 1997 received licenses for further areas, and began expansion, later entering other countries of the CIS. On October 31 2008,Vodafone announced a partnership deal with MTS, whereby Vodafone services will be available to MTS subscribers; some form of co-branding will follow, and both companies have noted the potential for more efficient purchasing.

Verizon Wireless

Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, owns and operates the largestwireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on a total of 87.6 million U.S. subscribers,^{[citation needed]} ahead of AT&T Mobility's 78.2 million subscribers. Verizon Wireless has the largest revenue of all United States wireless companies reporting $43.9 billion in 2007. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, the company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, with 55 and 45 percent ownership respectively. OnJanuary 9, 2009, Verizon Wireless acquired Alltel Wireless in a deal valued at $28.1 billion. The acquisition expanded Verizon's wireless network to cover approximately 290 million people and established Verizon as the largest United States wireless carrier, based on number of subscribers. Alltel will remain a wholly owned subsidiary until mid 2009.