What is 4G? And why do we even need it in Nepal?

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The World is evolving rapidly and so is technology around us. Day by day our necessities are changing due to the advancement of technology. The majority of these developments are directly affecting our daily activities. One of them is the evolution of mobile networks.

In today’s world, no one is untouched from the spell of fascinating virtual life. The Internet is an inseparable part of our daily life. In this scenario, the telecom companies are always trying to cope with the requirement of its customers. In past mobiles were the mere means of telephony services and SMS services. But presently the huge leaps of technology have ensured the unlimited possibilities. Sending audios, videos, images; surfing the internet; downloading and uploading seems quite normal. Recently some rumors are spreading  like wildfire about the new coming technology ‘4G’ to hit Nepali market soon.

What is 4G? And why do we even need it?

4G stands for the 4th generation in telecommunication technology. It is the successor of 3G. 4G is better and faster than 3G, a whole lot better. It has an incredible peak speed of 100Mbps (Megabits per second) theoretically only. Practically, a lot less but greater than twice that of 3G. 4G uses OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology. Basically, it’s a method of splitting and tight packing of data for parallel transmission using MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) concepts. Basically, in laymen’s term 4G is a fast internet service provided by mobile networks with the high speed of 100Mbps.

Nepal Telecommunication Corporation(NTC) is the winner in the race for approval of the license. According to NTC, the prevailing WiMAX Service is up to the standard of 4G. Ncell has also applied for the license. Minister for Information and Communication, Mr. Sherdhan Rai said that the existing 3G service will be expanded nationwide and 4G service will be started at Kathmandu Metropolitan City along with some major sub-metropolitan cities.

The major drawback for 4G is its lack of traditional circuitry for telephony service as like in 3G. But we can use VoLTE (Voice over LTE) function provided by apps like Skype, Whatsapp, Viber, Facebook, etc. for telephony service. If someone wants to make a voice call from 4G network without VoLTE feature, the network is automatically dropped to 3G or 2G network.

The necessity of 4G is felt at various places. A better internet ensures the uninterrupted call (voice or video) to their loved ones. A faster one takes less time to download or upload a great movie, songs, images,etc. Live streaming is possible without waiting for buffering. And best of all speed ensures the development of a nation is on right track.