3G – BIG

With 5G rolling out across nearly all corners of Canada, now is a great time to look back at the history of cellular standards in the country. Going back all the way to 1G, these standards have significantly impacted the way we’re able to connect with friends, family and colleagues.

Over more than 40 years, wireless cellular technology has evolved and innovated. This brief history will look at the ways each generation impacted mobile phones and smartphones. Historically, each decade introduces a new wireless standard, ushering in better services and practices for Canadians.

1G

The first generation of wireless cellular technology is the first and only true analog standard.

1G was first launched in Japan in 1979 by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT).
By the early ‘80s, 1G’s Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) expansion hit Europe and later arrived in the United States.
It took until the mid-1980s for Canada to receive access to 1G.
Motorola DynaTAC was the first mobile phone to utilize 1G in North America.

At the time, 1G was revolutionary for connectivity. It was primarily utilized for voice communications. Download speeds, when applicable, are said to have been as low as 2.4Kbp. However, users faced a number of issues during the 80s and 90s, including limited coverage and low sound quality. Additionally, 1G didn’t support encryption, allowing radio scanners to listen in on calls.

While not surprising, it’s worth noting that 1G is not supported any longer in Canada. The switch to digital telecommunications impacted the ongoing support of 1G around the world. Russia is one of the few remaining countries to still use 1G today.

2G

2G marked the transition from analog to digital, entering a new era for security and connectivity.

Launched in 1991 in Finland. Introduced the Global System for Mobile (GSM) network.
Arrived in Canada in 1992.
Brought digital encryption into the fold, increasing security for calls.
Offered data services, SMS text messaging, and multimedia messaging.

As expected, 2G was a fairly sustainable upgrade over its predecessor. 2G improved on sound quality while introducing speeds of roughly 40Kbps. 2.75G Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) network made it possible for maximum speeds of 384 Kbps. Due to its ability to transfer data and send text, 2G is what set the course for basic smartphone functions we still use today.

In 2017, Code-division multiple access (CDMA) began to shut down in remote areas. In 2018, carriers began announcing that 2G would face a wider shutdown in Canada. As of late 2021, carriers such as Bell and Rogers no longer support 2G.

3G

3G superseded 2G in several ways, leveraging data transferring capabilities and streaming. Although it pales in comparison to today’s connectivity standards, 3G marked a new age of wireless for Canadians.

Launched in 2001 in Japan by NTT DoCoMo, using the GSM/EDGE network.
Standardized vendor network protocols, introducing international roaming.
The launch of the iPhone 3G helped adoption within Canada in 2008.
Transfer capabilities increased roughly four times of 2G.

Blackberry and Apple were key players using 3G during the early to mid-2000s. 3G helped make many smartphone innovations possible. Internet browsing and music streaming became mainstays thanks to data transferring speeds of ~2Mbps. It was during the age of the 3G standard that emails on mobile devices became possible and popularized. Keeping up with traditions, voice quality and standardized communications improved too.

3G is still supported in Canada. However, carriers are expected to begin sunsetting the standard by the end of 2025. 3G is also used in other regions such as the UK, Austria, and Australia.

4G LTE

The dawn of 4G marked the introduction of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) and later Long Term Evolution (LTE). 4G LTE leverages increased bandwidth speeds and capacities to support modern smartphone usage seen around the world.

First commercial use was in South Korea in 2006.
In 2011, Rogers launched the first LTE wireless network in Canada, with Bell quickly following the same year.
Adoption was propelled thanks to Apple’s iPhone 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S4.
HD Video streaming became possible and a widely used feature.

Originally, 4G did not meet the International Telecommunication Union-Radio communications sector (ITU-R) requirements for speed. Therefore, the ITU-R allowed LTE to fall under 4G as it was able to provide a minimum of 12.5Mbps. Over time, these speeds increased to what we see today, which in Canada is around 55.5Mbps.

4G LTE was a more invested transition than its predecessors. Smartphone manufacturers had to develop and release devices specifically made to support 4G. LTE opened up the doors to online and cloud-based gaming on smartphones. More users can also utilize a network in populated areas without a major decrease in performance.

Many areas in Canada continue supporting 4G LTE to this day. Though, advancements under this standard have reached their ceiling.

5G

5G is the current form of mobile telecommunication used across Canada, providing improvements to bandwidth and latency. This standard is still in its infancy, therefore, many areas of Canada are awaiting access to the technology.

First adopted by South Korea in 2019.
Split into three categories: low-, mid- and high-band 5G.
Was brought to Canada in 2020.
5G is already available in major Canadian cities ie: Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, etc.
Samsung Galaxy S20 and iPhone 12 are among the first smartphones to utilize 5G.

As demand for better performance and efficiency rises, 5G aims to better the mobile networking experience. The technology is still new and it remains to be seen what impact the new standard will have. However, 5G is already proving to provide faster speeds, with upwards of 169Mbps on average.

Most recently, select carriers began supporting mid-band 3500MHz spectrum. Once deployed, 3500MHz spectrum will make more 5G benefits available to Canadians, such as decreased latency when streaming content or playing games. Additionally, 5G will enable more reliable coverage in populated areas such as sporting arenas and music venues. Vehicle autonomy, drones, and other emerging sectors in technology will also be able to tap into the potential of 5G.

Beyond 5G

While much of Canada and the world is still in the midst of adopting 5G, 6G is already in the works. A lot of discussion around 6G is conjecture at this point. However, China and Japan are currently in the throws of testing what could become 6G networking in the future.

This article is part of our The Future with 5G Series. A full-length documentary on 5G airs on BBC Earth Canada August 26th.

The story is sponsored by Bell. MobileSyrup publishes sponsored posts. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content.

Mobility usage over the last decade has skyrocketed as more people gained access to cellphones and associated networks than ever before.

The finding is outlined in a recent report released by Ericsson examining worldwide usage over the last 10 years.

Since the organization released its last report in 2011, a number of changes have happened.

The number of users subscribed to a 4G network has increased dramatically: in 2011, this number sat at 9 million. Now estimates show there will be 4.7 billion subscriptions by the end of the year.

Over the last decade, new smartphone subscribers have increased by 5.5 billion and mobile networks carry 300 times more traffic.

The report indicates this increase wasn’t expected. In 2011, most data came from laptops with cellular connections, but smartphones were growing in popularity.

“The visible market drivers at the time led us to underestimate the pace of smartphone and 4G subscription growth — and thereby also traffic growth on handheld devices — while overestimating the potential growth of 4G-connected laptops and tablets, as the smartphone became the device of choice for connecting other devices over Wi-Fi to the mobile network,” the report says.

Numerous events shaped this growth, which was further driven by network capabilities, tariffs, and market legislation.

The first event came in 2015 when a U.S.-based service provider offered bundles “with a zero-rated unlimited offering” for popular video services. Competitors soon offered similar bundles, contributing to a global increase in traffic.

The next major event came in 2017, when a new competitor entered the telecom market in India and offered competitive rates on 4G, leading to an increase in new users and subsequent traffic.

An impact was also seen in 2018 when 4G arrived in China, much later than in other markets.

Future trends

The report notes future trends can be hard to predict because things can change based on information not yet available.

The authors do expect, however, for 5G to grow incredibly fast, outpacing the growth of previous generations.

More than 180 service providers have launched 5G services across the world. Estimates show there will be 660 million 5G subscribers by the end of the year, mainly from strong demand in China and North America.

The continent has the second-highest number of 5G subscribers in the world, following North-East Asia, and is expected to move to first place by 2027.

“In North America, 5G commercialization is moving at a rapid pace. Service providers have launched commercial 5G services, focusing on mobile broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA),” the report says.

5G is further expected to take over 4G by the end of 2027, with an estimated 4.4 billion subscriptions. It’s also expected to grow faster than its previous counterpart, thanks, in part, to the availability of devices and lower prices.

4G subscriptions are expected to reach their maximum at 4.7 million by the end of the year. The research notes subscribers will decline to 3.3 billion by 2027, given they’ll be shifting to the newer 5G network

Growth of 5G

The network is expected to grow in every region, but there are a few notable factors to point out around the world.

While 5G network will grow alongside 4G in Sub-Saharan Africa, high speed packet access (HSPA) will remain dominant, representing 40 percent of users in 2027. HSPA is made of two mobile protocols that improve the performance of existing 3G networks using wideband code-division multiple access (WCDMA) protocols.

In India, 4G networks are expected to hold dominance but will see a decrease as users move to 5G. Subscriptions are expected to reduce from 68 percent in 2021 to 55 percent in 2027.

In Central and Eastern Europe, a similar forecast is predicted as 4G is expected to stay on top.

“In 2027, 4G will remain the dominant technology and is expected to account for 59 percent of mobile subscriptions, while 5G subscriptions are forecast to make up 41 percent.”

WCDMA/HSPA will decline to “virtually zero.”

A similar decline will also be seen in Western Europe as 5G subscriptions are expected to reach 83 percent by the end of 2027.

By 2027, 5G is expected to cover 75 percent of the population and be the fastest-deployed communication technology in history. Coverage in high population countries is one contributing factor to this.

In response, researchers have noticed the phenomenon of sunsetting or network sunsets. This is characterized by newer networks, like 4G and 5G, causing legacy networks like 2G and 3G, to shut down.

This can be categorized into three different waves.

In wave one, North American and Australia, among other parts of the world, have already shut down 2G networks and are expected to shut down 3G before the mid-2020s.

Wave two has seen Western Europe sunsetting 3G over 2G, given its larger dependency on it. The sunsetting of 3g is expected to last until the mid-2020s.

The third wave includes countries with a larger dependency on legacy technology because of the lower concentration of 4G and 5G networks. These places won’t see network sunsets for 2G and 3G until the end of 2030.

Image credit: ShutterStock

Source: Ericsson