It has historically taken about 20 years for each mobile generation to reach its peak usage while a new generation has been introduced on average every 10 years.

This means some areas are served by several generations of mobile system from 2G through to 5G.

Therefore, mobile system technicians need an appreciation of the operation and features of all current generations.

Also, understanding how mobile systems have evolved towards the latest 5G systems gives a deeper insight into how maximum capacity and speeds are achieved in cellular networks.

This is the approach taken in the PTT course “Introduction to mobile systems” and its new companion course “Mobile radio communications“.