Elisa – a firm in Finland has reportedly broken the record for the fastest 4G mobile internet around the world. According to a network operator, the company has achieved a speed of 1.9 (Gbps gigabit-per-second) claiming that it’s the fastest speed ever recorded. Theoretically, this super-fast internet network can download an ultra high-res Blu-ray film in mere 44 seconds!
Elisa’s CEO Veli-Matti Mattila, said that no other network has ever reported a speed that high. However in February this year, a team of university researchers achieved a mobile speed of about 1 terabit per second (Tbps) recording a 5G mobile speed faster than Elisa’s 4G about 50 times.
When asked about the commercial production, Mr. Mattila told that the company intends to release premium 1Gbps network in the country within the following “two to three years”. He was also of the view that super-fast network speeds will be most beneficial for HQ 4K videos, VR (Virtual Reality) and mobile AR (Augmented Reality).
Elisa said that it has used the technology provided by Huawei to achieve a network speed that almost touched 2 Gbps limit. It is about six times faster than the current fastest commercial network which has a speed of just 300 Mbps.
Although this seems like a remarkable feat, analysts are skeptical about this network’s commercial application.
“Deploying a network that can support 1.9 Gbps doesn’t mean customers will get 1.9 Gbps mobile broadband,” said Nick Wood, editor at Total Telecom. “This is because that network capacity has to be shared among customers. In reality, customers are likely to experience a modest improvement in overall speed and reliability, which is great, but doesn’t make for exciting headlines the same way that 1.9 Gbps does.”
Another expert at uSwitch, Ernest Doku comments that suppose you wish to stream HD content on Netflix, you just need 5 Mbps speed and Elisa’s speed is 400 times more than the required speed. He added that it isn’t much of an improvement in the 5G network but is most probably an indication that 4G has not yet reached its full potential!
Mr Mattila said that his company’s record shows how 4G networks need to “evolve” further and provide hyper-speed mobile network for users.
“I expect we will pilot 5G within the next year, but I don’t expect the 5G deployment in the mass market until after 2020.”
Do you think 1.9 Gbps is practical or more importantly of any use? With work on 5G already rolling, what will be 4G’s future? Let us know in comments!