Manage Technology

Many small business executives who are highly mobile already enjoy broadband wireless capabilities. These capabilities give laptops extra flexibility and security, since you don't have to rely on the availability of wireless hotspots for Internet access and you can get access even when you are in a client's secure corporate environment. Before long, though, even today's fast transmission speeds will be superseded. That's the promise of fourth-generation (4G) wireless technology, coming soon to wireless phones and devices near you.

As it becomes available, 4G's biggest drawing card will be its unprecedented speed: up to 100 Mbps downloading and 50 Mbps uploading, several times faster than 3G's theoretical maximum rates. Such lightning-fast data throughput will pave the way for speedier file downloads, easier video sharing and enhanced high-definition video quality. For businesses, 4G will provide the ability to perform an array of complex tasks anytime and anywhere without the need for a wired connection. For instance:

• Virtual meetings. 4G will allow mobile users to fully participate in videoconferences and webconferences regardless of their location. You will be able to join a conference while riding in the back seat of a taxi or while visiting a construction site. The technology's fast throughput will ensure that mobile users experience no loss in video or audio quality even while they easily share media files with colleagues worldwide.
• Business applications. 4G data rates will make virtually any hosted application, no matter how demanding on data transmission speeds, accessible on a wireless device. Employees with smartphones, laptops, netbooks, tablet computers and other wireless devices will be able to use the same network-based applications as their deskbound colleagues to edit video, analyze an array of remote sensor readings or update complex databases.
• New devices. 4G will allow vendors to develop entirely new types of mobile products designed to take full advantage of wireless high-speed data services. For example, think of a set of high-speed data sensors, mounted on a perishable product load being shipped by truck or railcar, sending a stream of detailed environmental data to its owner.
• Device integration. A number of telecommunications industry observers predict that 4G will lead to the increased integration of mobile devices. After all, why have employees carry several gadgets - smartphone, GPS system, media player, digital camera, video camera and e-book reader - when everything can be consolidated into a single, high-speed package?
• Device intercommunication. Many observers also think 4G will enable mobile devices to seamlessly share data with each other without direct user intervention. An employee could, for example, print a document stored on a smartphone on a printer located in another state, or even another country, simply by touching an icon on the smartphone's screen.
• New marketing techniques. Full wireless broadband service will allow businesses to target potential customers with HD-quality video presentations, high-resolution interactive demonstrations and other exciting new types of mobile device-oriented multimedia marketing tools.
• Mobile/fixed convergence. For many small businesses, mobile broadband will be competitive with fixed broadband in terms of price, performance, security and convenience. Companies IT staff will be able to spend less time setting up office Internet connections and employees will be able to move computers and other devices from office to office without worrying about disconnecting and reconnecting cables or wandering out of wireless coverage range.

Check out today's cutting-edge wireless data services from AT&T.