The cell phone tower in the photo is right here in New Hampshire, but to me, it really does not look like a pine tree. The photo is not mine but comes from Wikipedia public domain from a photographer with the screen name SayCheeeeeese. The article is about cell phone towers that are disguised to "blend in". Really?
The problem with all of this cell technology is not just the appearance, but rather, the fact that traffic will soon exceed the highway specifications. It is widely believed that the PC will soon be as much of a dinosaur as the old dial-up modems of the 1980's. Everyone it seems wants to be totally mobile, and the cost to do that will be very high, and there will be some pain involved. Cisco has projected that by 2016 about 50% of the internet connections will be wireless, and that 71% of that number will be large video files. And, with the sharply escalating sale of smartphones, and tablets, 2016 may be closer to the end than even the Mayan calender suggests.
Providers are scrambling to be at the head of the line to beat the rush with several technologies that are promising, but still plagued with concerns. Just a few problems like simultaneously accommodating 3G, 4G, and the soon to come 5th generation, bandwidth allotments, and frequency restrictions lead the list of hurdles to overcome.
Mini-towers, about the size of a square softball are in the works and can be used to provide WiFi hot spots in metropolitan areas much as the femtocells that have been available from Verizon and Nextel are doing. These are designed to be multiplexed and provide coverage inside of a building. But they require a fiber optic cable and either broadband or DSL connection.
In any conceivable event, it is our infrastructure that will fail us. With an aging electricity grid that is vulnerable to failure, the wireless network will likely suffer the same concerns. Demand is going up, supply is failing to keep pace, and any economist will say that this will mean higher prices for both.
For a good read on the problem and coming technologies, check out the article in CNNMoney here.
The problem with all of this cell technology is not just the appearance, but rather, the fact that traffic will soon exceed the highway specifications. It is widely believed that the PC will soon be as much of a dinosaur as the old dial-up modems of the 1980's. Everyone it seems wants to be totally mobile, and the cost to do that will be very high, and there will be some pain involved. Cisco has projected that by 2016 about 50% of the internet connections will be wireless, and that 71% of that number will be large video files. And, with the sharply escalating sale of smartphones, and tablets, 2016 may be closer to the end than even the Mayan calender suggests.
Providers are scrambling to be at the head of the line to beat the rush with several technologies that are promising, but still plagued with concerns. Just a few problems like simultaneously accommodating 3G, 4G, and the soon to come 5th generation, bandwidth allotments, and frequency restrictions lead the list of hurdles to overcome.
Mini-towers, about the size of a square softball are in the works and can be used to provide WiFi hot spots in metropolitan areas much as the femtocells that have been available from Verizon and Nextel are doing. These are designed to be multiplexed and provide coverage inside of a building. But they require a fiber optic cable and either broadband or DSL connection.
In any conceivable event, it is our infrastructure that will fail us. With an aging electricity grid that is vulnerable to failure, the wireless network will likely suffer the same concerns. Demand is going up, supply is failing to keep pace, and any economist will say that this will mean higher prices for both.
For a good read on the problem and coming technologies, check out the article in CNNMoney here.
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