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The Current Status of 3g and the Future of 4g Essay

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The Current Status of 3G and the Future of 4G 3G and 4G are two mobile communications standards that are currently in use. 3G is the third generation of the standard and 4G is the fourth and most recent generation. Each successive generation usually brings new base technologies, more network capacity for more data per user, and the potential for better voice quality. 3G became available in the United States in 2002 and 4G became available in 2009 (O’Malley). Although it is a previous generation of communications standards, 3G is still in use world-wide and will probably remain so for a few more years. 4G is still relatively new and has somewhat limited coverage, but it is only going to expand and get better.

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There are over 190 3G networks operating in over 40 countries worldwide (3G vs 4G). 4G’s coverage pales in comparison to the massive 3G network. The only 4G coverage available at the present time is in the vicinity of large metropolitan areas. 3G’s data transfer speeds have a minimum data rate of 2 Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 384 kbit/s in a moving vehicle (About Mobile Technology). 4G on the other hand can be up to 10 times faster, but speeds like this are only capable in certain areas where the network is capable of supporting such speeds. 3G remains relevant due to its wide coverage when compared with 4G and its consistent and still relatively high data transfer speeds. But as the 4G network grows, the future of 3G isn’t very promising. It is only a matter of time before 4G takes over completely.

Brief History of 4G 4G is the fourth generation of cell phone mobile communications standards and successor of the 3G standards. The world's first publicly available 4G service was opened in the two Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo in 2009. 4G became available in the United States later in 2009. As opposed to earlier generations, a 4G system does not support traditional circuit-switched telephony service, but uses all-Internet Protocol (IP) based communication exclusively (3G vs 4G). 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband internet access to laptops with

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