LTE, or long-term evolution, has hovered on the edge of science fiction. Apparently 3G, is about to be a thing of the past, reports Nader Habib According to Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg, the number of telephone sets connected to the Internet will reach 50 billion in 2020, by which time people will be using sixth generation technology, as opposed to the current third generation. Early this month, Carlo Aloni of Ericsson Egypt said Egypt would be the first country in the Arab world to host promotions of the new technology known as LTE. Some confuse LTE with WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access), which is currently available in many cities around the world, including Luxor in Egypt. There is a reason for this confusion. WiMax, a telecommunications protocol that provides fixed and mobile Internet access, is quite fast. It can support up to 40 megabyte per second connections. With some tweaking, involving an IEEE 802.16m update, WiMax may be able to offer up connection speeds of up to one gigabyte per second. LTE is totally different. It will revolutionise applications that need particularly high speeds, such as videoconferences and online gaming. The good news is that, in order to introduce it, there is no need to alter the existing infrastructure on which the first, second and third generations are operating. LTE also provides a higher level of mobility to users. In WiMax, the technology was available to mobile targets with a ground speed of up to 12 kilometres per hour. In LTE, the ground speed of the target can be as high as 350 kilometres per hour. In addition, LTE is more energy efficient than WiMax. According to Aloni, broadband technology is likely to stimulate social and economic development in Egypt, accelerating growth and creating jobs in business, health and education. That is why Ericsson is taking LTE to the road with a "mobile broadband caravan", that explains to Internet providers the ways in which the new technology will improve their business. He said the new technology would benefit governments, businesses and the public as a whole. Its range of applications is extensive, ranging from traffic control to management of electric grids, operation of household equipment, banking and medical care. Sherif Fouad, who works for Ericsson, says that the new technology will help provide patients with 24/7 medical supervision. For example, a heart patient can wear a small device on his finger, allowing transmission of his condition to doctors and hospitals around the clock. And for those who love gardening, there is a device that can be connected to plants, allowing users to listen to the way these usually quiet creatures react to actions. For instance, when you touch the plant or clean it, the device can be programmed to utter words of gratitude. When you cut the plant's leaves or twist its branches, the device will express dissatisfaction.
