Wireless Internet Access: 3G Vs. WiFi?* 1

Telecommunications Policy, 2003

This article compares and contrasts two technologies for delivering broadband wireless Internet access services: ‘‘3G’’ vs. ‘‘WiFi’’. The former, 3G, refers to the collection of third-generation mobile technologies that are designed to allow mobile operators to offer integrated data and voice services over mobile networks. The latter, WiFi, refers to the 802.11b wireless Ethernet standard that was designed to support wireless LANs. Although the two technologies reflect fundamentally different service, industry, and architectural design goals, origins, and philosophies, each has recently attracted a lot of attention as candidates for the dominant platform for providing broadband wireless access to the Internet. It remains an open question as to the extent to which these two technologies are in competition or, perhaps, may be complementary. If they are viewed as in competition, then the triumph of one at the expense of the other would be likely to have profound implications for the evolution of the wireless Internet and structure of the service-provider industry. r 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Internet; Broadband; Wireless; 3G; WLAN; Ethernet; Access; Spectrum; Economics; Industry structure

Communications Magazine, IEEE, 2002

The delivery of Voice, Video and Data has transformed in the last number of years with the migration from co-axial trunks to fibre delivery and major protocol shifts, in the background from Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) to Internet Protocol (IP). Telephone/fax line at the customer residence changed to Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) then to Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), which is changing to Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) and Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON). During this migration a major group of consumers, particularly those living in rural areas have been left to rely on Wireless solutions to provide access to services. To meet with the speeds that urban networks receive Wireless Internet Services Providers (WISP) and Mobile Operators need imaginative solutions to deliver services. While traditional carriers like Eircom have tended to leverage their existing telephone networks by offering ADSL, the limited range of this technology has left gaps in coverage. In Ireland, in particular the timing of the sale of Eircom has left the country with a patchy broadband deployment based on the new owner’s commercial interests. Community broadband schemes using Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) solutions evolved into a patchwork of Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISP) upon which the mobile operators have layered what can be accurately described 3G midband to close the difference. In this white paper the author looks at the solutions used currently for wireless provision of Internet Access. He also discusses at Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wireless MAX (WiMAX), two solutions vying to provide wireless broadband for the future.

2004

Overview - Introduction. Components of the Internet. Wireless Networks. Relevant Internet Technologies - Multimedia Transport. Session Control. Quality of Service. Security. Mobility. IPv6. Services, Applications and Other Miscellaneous Topics. IMS in UMTS - Evolution from GSM to UMTS. The IP Multimedia Sub-System (IMS). Looking Ahead - Future Possibilities. Conclusions. Glossary. References.

Certain conclusions and facts have existed over the last few years which have contributed to widespread negative attitudes about 2.5 and 3G systems. Technical lapses, bad performance, nonrealistic costs, and unfulfilled expectations are some of the most pertinent motives cited by experts for a lack of interest among enterprise users and customers. This paper discusses the future of mobile networks through the aspects of mobile technology trends and their transition into broadband wireless networks, which will encompass the All-IP ideas within a packet-switched infrastructure. Future mobile networks should not only promise higher data bandwidth but also the integration of different wireless communication modes into seamless communication between different appliances.

Journal of Communications, 2008

Abstract—The telecommunication industry has been through disruptive times, but data networking service revenue has continued to rise. The telecom industry is expected to continue to grow as demand increases for cable and high-speed Internet in previously unserviced locations ...

Computational Science – ICCS 2006, 2006

Recently, much attention has been paid to portable Internet as a solution not only to surpass limits of high-speed Internet, wireless LAN and cellular communications but also to accommodate increasing demands for wireless Internet services. In this paper, we introduce the Wireless Broadband (WiBro) system which has been developed in Korea as a portable Internet system to foster a new home grown wireless system and services.

IEEE Network, 2000

he past decade may well be recorded in history books as the time when we all became dependent on "wireless." Wireless local area networks (WLANs) allowed us to enjoy the high-speed networking and Internet access wire-free, and the Bluetooth earpiece finally allowed us to be mobile and communicate hands-free and wire-free, all at the same time.

2015

In this paper we give an overview of wireless mobiles, starting form first generation (1G) based on analogue system in 1980, while second generation (2G) which sets initial digital standards focuses on capacity and coverage. Emergence of GSM also belongs to 2G. After that third generation (3G) continues with the upgradation and adoption of new technologies such as UMTS-HSPA and CDMA200 EV-DO to provide high speed, low cost and bring the quality in services. Now Long Term Evolution (LTE)technology encompasses the pillars for next generation i.e. fourth generation(4G) for higher throughput, low latency mobile access, multicast and broadcast media and it sets standards for the deployment of 4G around the world. This paper provides a view of these generations and gives a comparative study of 3G and LTE. It also provides some important issues and challenges related to LTE.