In 1908, a US Patent was issued in Kentucky for a wireless phone. Sixty-five years later, Motorola was the first to mass produce a handheld mobile phone. These early phones ran on what is considered to be OG or Zero Generation mobile phone technology. These phones were nothing in comparison to what’s available at our fingertips today, yet it was still a breakthrough.
Mobile technology has continued to evolve, improve, and entrench itself into the interworking’s of modern society. From flip phones, to Blackberries, to the first iPhone, mobile devices have become an everyday item that some deem as a necessity. According to Statista, there will be a predicted 2.71 billion smartphone users world by 2019 and just shy of 3 billion smartphone users by 2020.
Currently, mobile technology is running off of 4G/LTE technology, which was introduced in 2009 and succeeded 3G, the mobile technology available to the public in 2001. Previous to 3G was 2G technology, which has been abandoned by AT&T all together and other major providers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint) have fade-out plans in place. 5G mobile technology is supposed to be available within the market by 2020. Fifth generation mobile technology is forecasted to reach between 25-100 million connections by 2021, and the costs to support the infrastructure are expected to approach $2.3 billion.
As expected, there will be technical advances brought by 5G technology. The three main benefits of 5G technology, according to NBC News, include:
The 5G technology has already made its debut during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Samsung and Intel live streamed VR coverage of the sporting events during the games. Other key players, AT&T, Spring, T-Mobile, and Verizon, are also developing their 5G technology and capabilities with the goal of bringing it to consumers in 2019.
As news about 5G technology continues to be released, count on Bit by Bit to keep you updated.
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