In the modern technological age telecommunications are just another part of our lives, in fact they are now so embedded within our daily lives and culture that many of us would be utterly lost without them. It is strange to think that the older generation can remember a time when telecoms were very much on the periphery of everyday life and yet they too would struggle to live without them today. Telecoms, or at least modern telecoms, really began with the first telephones, telegrams and radio which started to work in the late 19th and early 20th century. Television soon followed in the 1920's.
Radio is the epitome of basic telecoms, using electromagnetic waves to transmit information over large distances from a transmitter to a signal receiver. A revolution of sorts occurred in the 1960's as space exploration took off, launching satellites into space. These orbiting satellites could act as giant receivers and transmitters which could beam information to any part of Earth. Today we use them mainly for Geolocation, SatNav and as tools to stop us getting lost (some of the time), but they were originally very handy for getting telephone signals to places with no telephone lines in place, like remote islands.
The latest revolution comes in the field of mobile phones, which also use radio waves as their method of communication. Transferring data across these wireless networks usually involves 'cell stations' and so a signal can be lost just like a standard mobile phone signal. 4G wireless technology is much faster than its predecessor, 3G, because it uses something called 'ultra broadband' technology which can be used as USB wireless modems, smart-phones and tablets as well as standard mobile phones. The main advantage of 4G is that far more data can be sent far more quickly over the mobile network.
These increased data transfer rates mean that mobile internet TV, film streaming to smart-phones or tablets and seamless internet connection with speeds better than most UK landline broadband connections are all easily possible using 4G technology. Whether downloading music or video, receiving internet phone calls or checking emails, your online mobile needs will be able to be fulfilled very quickly wherever you are, on the move, at work or at home. This telecoms revolution offers the average man in the street an almost instant contact with the rest of the world, possibly the greatest communication achievement in human history!