3 ms·

>operators don't deploy GEA-1 any more in 1st world maybe

• est31 5y ago
  Yeah I omitted maybe too much in the summary. The paper mentions that 2G is used in some places as a fallback, so operators still support it if the phone doesn't support newer standards. In fact in Germany, the country of one of the paper's authors, precisely this is happening: 3G is being turned off while 2G is used as fallback for devices that don't support LTE. Apparently there are some industrial use cases of 2G that still rely on it. In Switzerland, they are instead turning off 2G and keeping 3G as the fallback. IDK how the situation is in third world countries, but note that India at least is in the top ten when it comes to LTE coverage. https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog/india-4g-availability-2019/ https://www.speedtest.net/insights/blog/india-4g-availabilit...
  • slim 5y ago
    Also 2G is less battery hungry. We use it for our professional applications on Android
    • AstralStorm 5y ago
      That blanket statement is unwarranted. Due to various signal limitations, newer protocol can have fewer retransmissions and may use less transmit power. Especially later revisions of 4G and all 5G due to MIMO and signal power estimates for roaming. Also may allow the use of local WiFi to save power. It would be nice to use newer protocols on lower frequencies for range but regulation is what it is. Trust the phone to do the right thing.
• zokier 5y ago
  Worldwide. Quoth the paper: > According to a study by Tomcs ́anyi et al. [11], that analyzes the use of the ciphering algorithm in GRPS of 100 operators worldwide, most operators prioritize the use of GEA-3(58) followed by the non-encrypted mode GEA-0(38). Only a few operators rely on GEA-2(4), while no operator uses GEA-1(0).