Technology around the world is growing very fast and we are growing faster day by day. We have so many things to uplink and downlink everywhere and now that we are all hearing about the 4g in the country one must be heading forward to get that technology at the finger tips. But you must consider somethings for sure before jumping into the conclusion, moving over the section you must first understand the meaning of G. G in 3g or 4g is nothing bust the Generation, so what does this generation have to give you the value added if you are advancing yourselves to 3g or 4g. It’s just like asking a track car to compete in a trail track or vice versa, both have their own limits and conditions so don’t be excited for that 4G big banner floating on the building. Be aware its just a mental marketing campaign for you to kill your pockets at economic downfall. A colorful eyecatching campaign can be a big blunder for your own pocket if it does not suffice your daily needs.
The same things has happened few years ago with SMS or MMS, SMS could be helpful around in Mauritius, but not the Valid MMS ppl normally don’t use that for a right way in Mauritius for sure. Keeping everything aside lets come back to the basics of 3g and 4g part in Mauritius and how and what you need to know and understand about all these.
What is 3G?
The G of course means generation. Cell phones and systems are classified by the generation they belong to. Third generation (3G) phones were developed in the late 1990s and 2000s. The goal was to improve the data capability and speed. 3G phones were defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and later standardized by the ITU-T. Generally known as the Universal Mobile Telecomunications System (UMTS), this 3G system is based on wideband CDMA that operates in 5 MHz of bandwidth and can produce download data rates of typically 384 kb/s under normal conditions and up to 2 Mb/s in some instances. Another 3G standard, cdma2000, was developed by Qualcomm. It uses 1.25 MHz bands to produce data rates to 2 Mb/s. Another version of cdma2000 is an improved IS-95 version. It is a 3GPP2 standard. It can transmit data at a rate to 153 kb/s and up to 2 Mb/s in some cases.
3G phone standards have been expanded and enhanced to further expand data speed and capacity. The WCDMA phones have added high speed packet access (HSPA) that use higher level QAM modulation to get speeds up to 21 or 42 Mb/s downlink (cell site to phone) and up to 7 and/or 14 Mb/s uplink (phone to cell site). AT&T and T-Mobile use HSPA technology. The cdma2000 phones added 1xRTT as well as Rev. A and Rev B modifications that boost speed as well. Verizon and Sprint use cdma2000 3G standard technology. Virtually all standard and smartphone models and most tablets still use some form of 3G.
What is 4G?
The fourth generation has been defined but we are not in it, yet. Yes, many if not most of the mobile carriers and the various phone and equipment manufacturers actually advertise 4G now. The formal definition of 4G as declared by the 3GPP and the ITU-T is something called Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A). The standard has not been fully completed but basically it is an improved and enhanced version of LTE that uses wider bandwidth channels and a greater number of MIMO antennas. The theoretical upper data rate is 1 Gb/s. That remains to be seen in practice.
As for what the various companies are calling 4G, Verizon says that their LTE network is 4G. AT&T promotes their LTE and HSPA networks as 4G. T-Mobile indicates that their HSPA+ networks are 4G. Furthermore Sprint and Clearwire say that their WiMAX network is 4G. As mentioned, WiMAX is actually defined as a 3G technology by ITU-T like LTE.
Since both LTE and WiMAX are completely different technologically from previously defined WCDMA/cdma2000 3G, it seems appropriate to say LTE and WiMAX are 4G. Both are a step up in data speed. It all depends on your interpretation and acceptance of what 4G is. If the carriers are calling LTE 4G now, will they call LTE-Advanced 5G. If it is good marketing, they may.
When to Go For 4G
The mobile carriers are still building out their 4G networks, so first, you need 4G coverage to appreciate a 4G phone. Of the national carriers, Verizon and T-Mobile have the broadest 4G coverage.
Sprint is in the middle of switching 4G systems, from WiMAX to LTE. The two are incompatible, so you must check coverage in your city for the specific variety of 4G you’re buying.
If you like to surf the Web and especially stream video, 4G can be heaven. If you connect a laptop to your mobile link, 4G makes a huge difference. In general, anything involving transferring large amounts of data gets a big boost from 4G. Watch out for the data limits on your service plan, though; it’s easy to use up a lot of data very quickly with 4G.
If you have a 3G phone and you’ve been frustrated with clogged-up networks, 4G may be the solution. You’ll be switching to a different, less-trafficked network for your Internet data. 4G won’t solve any dropped call problems, though, as all calls will be made over 3G networks until carriers switch to voice-over-LTE during the next few years.
Finally, if you want to future-proof yourself, get a 4G phone. 4G coverage is only going to get better, and that’s where the carriers are spending most of their money right now. As we move into 2013 and 2014, some carriers will even try to switch subscribers to 4G-only phones which make voice calls over the LTE network.
When to Buy 3G
If you want an iPhone, it’ll be 3G. End of story. We’re done. Apple may be releasing a 4G LTE iPhone later this year, but the company doesn’t currently have a 4G model. (The “4″ in iPhone 4 refers to the model number, not the mobile technology.)
If you live in an area that doesn’t have 4G coverage, there’s no advantage to a 4G phone. In fact, you’ll have serious battery life problems if you buy an LTE phone and don’t disable 4G LTE, as the radio’s search for a non-existent signal will drain your battery quickly.
In general, if you value battery life more than Internet speeds, there’s still life in 3G yet. We’ve seen significantly shorter usage times on 4G devices than on 3G devices, most notably on Verizon and Sprint phones. (Our LTE explainer goes into detail as to why that’s the case, and why T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 42 is currently the least battery-hogging form of 4G.) We’ll see that situation improve over the next two years as integrated 3G/4G chips arrive, and then as carriers switch to 4G for voice calling. Of course, you can also buy a 4G phone and turn the option off using a menu option or downloaded app.
I hope this clears up the 3G vs. 4G dilemma. If you have anything to add, please continue the discussion in the comments below.
