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Elisa, one of the biggest Finnish Internet Service Providers (ISP), claims to have achieved a new world record for 4G network with 1.9 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) data download speed using Huawei technology.

Currently, Sweden and the United Kingdom have been crowned as the top countries across the world when it comes to fastest mobile 3G and 4G speeds, but now Finland is also working hard to give them a tough competition.

Elisa set this record-breaking benchmark with the help of technology provided by Chinese telecom giant Huawei that could allow real-world mobile 4G users to download a Blu-ray film in just 40-45 seconds.

4G and 5G Technology: The future of Mobile Networks

In February last year, a team of researchers from the University of Surrey managed to achieve a record-breaking speed of 1 Terabit per second (1Tbps) during a test of 5G wireless data connections, which is over 500 times faster than Elisa's 4G speed.

While, in June last year, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) decided that 5G compliant Internet providers will have to provide a standard data speed of up to 20Gbps, which is still 10 times faster than Elisa's 4G speed.

But currently, the fastest available mobile 4G broadband subscription provides a speed of up to 300Mbps, while the maximum possible speed on a real-world Elisa's live network is 450Mbps.

"The speeds that the 4G network offers are continuously increasing and, possibly in the next few years, we will even be able to offer mobile data connections of several gigabits per second to our customers," says Sami Komulainen, Vice President at Elisa.

However, Elisa is not the first telecommunication company planning to offer at least 1 Gbps on 4G network within the next "two to three years," as VodaFone Germany has also prepared to provide 1 Gbps on its 4G network by the end of 2016.

Do You Need Ultra-High Speed Mobile Internet?

You might be thinking that why a mobile user needs an ultra-high speed internet connection?

If higher speeds have the potential for a more connected world with the faster flow of information, then what's wrong in it?

Hyper-fast network speeds will not only be a boon to virtual reality and augmented reality but also will accelerate the mobile video market, facilitating the streaming of larger files, like "high-quality 4K video and beyond."

Moreover, in today's portable world, mobile customers also make use of their mobile Internet data on their laptops and desktops via tethering feature and higher speeds will improve their Internet experience.

While using your cell phone at a massive public event, like a concert, conference, or sporting event, you have probably experienced slow communication, poor performance or slow browsing speeds, as crowds arrive.

That's because of ‘Spectrum Crunch’, which means, Interference of WiFi signals with each other.

WiFi signals of all cell-phones in a large event interfere with each other because they are all fighting over the same limited spectrum but there is not enough bandwidth to handle all the traffic from the cellphones that are trying to use the same frequency slice at the same time, leaving them frustrated with painfully slow Internet access.

However, a team of researchers from the MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has developed a solution for this problem.

In a new research paper, 'Real-time Distributed MIMO Systems,' published online this week, the MIT team described a system for managing networks that cause the WiFi routers to collaborate better.

Dubbed "MegaMIMO 2.0" (Multiple Input, Multiple Output), the system uses an algorithm that coordinates multiple access points (routers) at once, syncing their phases so that multiple transmitters can share the same part of the spectrum without interference.

The algorithm developed by the researchers processes a router's signal in such a way that multiple routers can send information on the same wireless spectrum without causing any interference.

So what's the Result?

In the test conducted by the MIT team, led by professor Dina Katabi, the researchers said their MegaMIMO 2.0 was able to transfer wireless data 3.6 times faster than existing systems in a crowded room.

What's more impressive: The team was able to increase Wi-Fi speeds by a factor of 10 when it had tested with additional routers.

However, the team admitted that the MegaMIMO 2.0 system had not been tested in a stadium or any large venue, but in a lab using four laptops that roamed on Roomba robots designed to move around like people do in large gatherings.

You can watch the video demonstration that shows off the MegaMIMO 2.0 system online.
So-called 'Spectrum Crunch' is such a major issue that the White House recently announced both a $400 Million research initiative as well as a $4 Million global competition dedicated to this problem.

The team is confident their system will work and has already created a startup, called MegaMIMO, and is now exploring ways to commercialize their technology, so perhaps you will be able to watch YouTube videos at concerts and conferences.

However, you will have to be patient, as Ezzeldin Hussein Hamed, one of the MIT researchers, said it was too early to estimate when the average American would experience the benefits of these systems.

"We have developed 10 more breakthrough technologies and one of them means we can exceed 1Tbps wirelessly. This is the same capacity as fiber optics but we are doing it wirelessly," 5GIC director Prof Rahim Tafazolli told the news website V3.

According to Prof Tafazolli, there were hurdles to overcome before 5G would be ready, he said, "An important aspect of 5G is how it will support applications in the future. We don't know what applications will be in use by 2020, or 2030 or 2040 for that matter, but we know they will be highly sensitive to latency."