We are already ready for the gigabit mobile Internet

We are already ready for the gigabit mobile Internet

Very many people constantly complain that they have a slow Internet and they miss it. Therefore, operators and equipment manufacturers day after day are trying to increase the speed offered to users. The queue of speed is a gigabit order, and they are closer than we think.


To begin with, it is necessary to determine that the existing speeds are sufficient, if the network is free. That is, for a mobile Internet of 50 Mbit / s this is an excellent indicator, and they will be enough to listen to streaming audio and to watch video in 4K. Even 20 Mbit / s is enough for most.

But all this is good only in ideal conditions, when users are not so much and the network is able to share data at such a speed, and this already brings to life and says that not everything is so good with speeds because in reality they are achieved in real life is not so simple, especially in crowded places.

In part, therefore, manufacturers are also investing in increasing network speeds. But this is not the only reason. So for what in the end need a faster connection speed?


The appearance of large files

One can argue with what was said above about the sufficiency of speeds of 50 Mbit / s, since nothing stands still and the size of the files also increases. Literally a few years ago, we had enough memory for an 8 GB smartphone, now devices with less than 64 GB are not even considered seriously.

That is why we can safely say that in the near future the volumes of information will grow, and the need to constantly have access to it will become even more acute. Especially it will become relevant with the further development of cloud storage.

Increase the number of users

It's no secret that the growth rate of the number of smartphones has decreased recently. This is due to the saturation of the market, but this does not mean that there will be no further growth in the number of active users. Many of those who use smartphones did not immediately start to master all their functions, and now the simplicity and availability of modern services actively stimulates this process.

As a result, the growth in the number of active subscribers will lead to the fact that in places of mass congestion, the rates will fall dramatically. The development of high-speed networks in this case will contribute to the overall capacity expansion of the network, and each user will get more speed than if everyone shared less bandwidth.


An excellent example is a major sporting event, for example, a football match of the World Cup, or the Champions League final. At the decisive moment, many viewers will want to run the stream in Instagram or just lay out the video, but not everyone will. Many have met with this problem and know how slowly the Network works in such places. That is why an increase in speed of 10-20 times will have a significant impact on the comfort of visitors to the event.

Development of the Internet of things

The Internet of things is a development of the problem mentioned above, concerning the growth of the number of active devices. It will also lead to a significant increase in traffic consumption. If home appliances are connected via Wi-Fi, then, for example, a car that will have access to the Internet will already require a mobile network and will need a reliable connection, as this can also affect safety.

Maybe something else?

This is not a complete list of those factors that require the appearance of a faster connection. In the end, do not forget that access to the Web for us has already become like air. When it is, we do not notice it, but it is worth it to lose, though not for long, and we begin to experience serious discomfort.

Even recent studies by German scientists have shown that more than half of young people experience stress in any, even a second, connection delay. In the older generation, these figures are several times higher, but still do not exceed a few seconds. It's silly to argue with this, we all do not like it when the site opens for too long, although 15 years ago we were glad that it was opening at all.

What is being done to develop networks

Last week in Ufa, MTS together with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, inc. (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated) launched the first real gigabit LAA network in Eastern Europe.

This step was an important step towards the fifth generation networks. That is why the presentation of the new network was much talked about its advantages and in general about what LAA-network technology is.


The first equipment of the new generation was installed in the shopping center "Planeta" in the center of Ufa by the joint efforts of Ericsson and Qualcomm within the framework of the MTS network modernization project. Therefore, it was there that the presentation and demonstration of the novelty's possibilities took place. Demonstration took place on the example of a smartphone Moto Z2 Force with a Snapdragon 835 processor and a modem X16 LTE - the first commercial chip that supports LAA. As a result, based on the results of the download test, the smartphone allowed to reach the speed of 979 Mbps.

After demonstrating the equipment on site, the presentation moved to a separate room, where representatives of MTS, Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. detailed about the technology of the LAA networks, the prospects for their development and answered the questions of the journalists gathered.


What is the advantage of the new technology?

To achieve such a high speed was possible due to the use of several new technologies, such as aggregation of frequencies in the licensed and non-licensed spectrum, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM.

All technologies at the presentation were explained on a simple example with trucks that carry boxes along the road. It was clear and understandable.

By aggregation is meant the use of frequencies in the licensed LTE 1800 MHz band and three bands of 20 MHz each in the 5 GHz band of the unlicensed spectrum. In a demonstration clip, the example of trucks on the road is compared with the expansion of the roadway and, as a result, speeding up the movement and delivery of data packets.


The 4x4 MIMO technology complements the frequency aggregation and allows you to add multiple streams to the data transfer. This is relevant on the background of the fact that the frequencies can not be aggregated indefinitely and they should be used more fully. Returning to trucks, it was compared with the build-up of road levels, which eventually can drive more cars.

The additional contribution is made by the 256-QAM technology, thanks to which it turns out to "load trucks" by 30 percent denser, and, therefore, further increase the throughput and speed of delivery.