Iran Moves to 4.5G Internet Connectivity

Iran moved to fourth generation (3/4G) mobile and home Internet in 2015. But  that broadcasting technology is becoming a thing of the past and will be  superseded by another next-generation technology. 

In early January billboards started going up around Tehran and other large cities with the second mobile operator MTN-Irancell announcing new "super fast mobile connections."

Those billboards advertise a new form of mobile Internet called 4.5G mobile connectivity, leaving many wondering what exactly this new technology is offering.  

So, what is 4.5G Internet and what does it mean for website surfing, app downloading? 

According to the technical term for the technology 4.5G technology is otherwise known as LTE Advanced, or the next level of Internet connectivity. 

LTE Advanced Pro is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of Long Term Evolution (LTE) broadcasting. 

Thus 4.5G is a marketing term for an increase in technology and not an entirely new platform. 

Moreover, 4.5G is an extension to 4G LTE and is an emerging technology being worked upon by Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm Huawei and a host of other network service providers. 

>Getting Technical

Turning technical, 4.5G or License Assisted Access (LAA) works by aggregating licensed and unlicensed (5 Ghz) LTE frequency bands, using massive MIMO technology (multiple inputs, multiple outputs) and 256-QAM modulation. 

In other words, it uses the licensed radio spectrum in a more efficient way for better download speeds. Meaning one antenna can host more users at higher speeds.

Yes, it means it is faster.   

The technology is not entirely new, nor will it require users to buy new devices that do not already have 4G Internet capability. Irancell also has made no comments that existing 4G SIM cards will need to be replaced. 

>What can be done with 4.5G?

According to one YouTube video of the upgraded technology, one person testing out the signal saw speeds of up to 1.2Gbps which is roughly 700x faster than the standard 4G Internet offered to most mobile subscribers.

The example used to show the speed range was visible when a user started  downloading a two-gigabyte High-Definition film off a torrent site. He downloaded the movie in 14 seconds. On the standard ADSL connection, the film would take hours to download.  

MCI has also started to offer its services as '4.5G', however there is no information available as to whether they can achieve speeds as close as those made by Irancell.

Their marketing campaign for the technology also seems to be less organized than the South African-backed MTN-Irancell.  

New posters across the capital follow a showcase event in Mashhad by the MTN-Irancell in August where the first wireless 4G TD-LTE home and office broadband network were released. 

The company’s TD-LTE network was launched simultaneously in 25 cities.

MTN-Irancell’s CEO Alireza Ghalambor Dezfouli noted that 1,038 areas in the country, including 527 cities, have access to the 3G network and 239 areas currently have 4G coverage.

He added that Irancell had 17 million and 25 million broadband and data subscribers respectively at the time.

Irancell received the countrywide TD-LTE license in August 2015. The pilot phase was launched soon after at an event attended by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi.