Mobile Communication landscape: From 1G to 4G and the interest of 5G in Pakistan

The utilization of mobile communication is exponentially growing in an ecosystem with the passage of time. The latest existence of network technology for mobile communication is fifth-generation (5G) technology. The pre-requisite for 5G technology is costly infrastructural replacement and upgradation with the infrastructure of previous generation technology. Presently, Pakistan is one of the noteworthy countries that has bio-metrically verified mobile subscribers from the Pakistan telecommunication authority (PTA). Nevertheless, the country falls behind the circle of mobile internet availability. It is reported that almost half of mobile subscribers do not have access to internet facilities in Pakistan. On the positive side, it is possible to fill this gap by adopting technological applications offered by 5G technology such as virtual networking, network slicing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). With the passage of time and the progression in technology, Pakistan led towards the internet of things (IoT) technology. In order to operate IoT devices, the users need ultra-high speed, very low latency, maximum bandwidth, and ultra-reliability. IoT is the umbrella of smart cities, healthcare applications, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), wearable devices and industrial applications, etc. In this paper, the exponential landscape of mobile communication networks in Pakistan was sought and examined taking into consideration the geographical challenges. The benefits of the deployment of 5G in Pakistan were also discussed. The finding of the study is less utilization of available infrastructure and expansion of available cellular technology all over Pakistan demographically.

I. Introduction

The subscribers of mobile and the use of mobile communication are increasing exponentially with the passage of time. The use of mobile has become a basic and crucial need in the ecosystem [1]. A coded message for mobile communication was founded in 1895 [2]. Wireless network technology grants unlicensed subscribers, in a sense of spectrum connectivity, a great ability to utilize spectrum fortunately [3]. The current century is leading in the field of mobile communication technology with unbelievable dramatic growth [4]. To facilitate the massive number of subscribers and provide Quality of service (QoS) to the subscribers in the ecosystem, a highly reliable system is required for secure end-to-end (E2E) communication [5]. Central challenges such as spectrum allocation and high power, have been faced in 4G technology [6], [7]. The latest evolution of mobile technology is the fifth generation (5G). The 5G technology is expected is anticipated to full fill the remaining gaps of fourth generation (4G) technology [3].