Google has announced plans to build a new submarine cable linking the USA, UK and Spain. The UK cable station will be located at Bude in Cornwall. The “Grace Hopper” cable will be the fourth Google owned cable accelerating the trend for content providers such as Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft to invest in their own infrastructure rather than relying on telecommunications companies for connections between their data centres and users.

The network of undersea cables that span the oceans are vital for global communications carrying 99% of the world’s data. The first transatlantic cable to use optical fibre as the transmission media, TAT-8, was laid in 1988 with a capacity of 280 Megabits per second. The “Grace Hopper” cable, which promises 250 Terabits per second speeds, adds to the nearly 750,000 miles of cable connecting continents to support our insatiable demand for communications and entertainment.

PTT courses that cover optical fibre communications include “Optical fibre principles“, “Optical access networks“, “Optical line systems” and “Optical networks”.

A recent survey of the awareness of 5G and its benefits amongst smaller businesses in the UK found a degree of indifference. Only one fifth of those surveyed regarded the provision of 5G services as a priority for their businesses in the short to medium term.

Many of those questioned were more concerned with the availability and quality of existing mobile services and showed little enthusiasm for adopting 5G.

In contrast, a survey of IT specialists in the USA found that a large majority of those surveyed believed 5G would be a critical networking technology for their company in the next three years.

The key benefits important to those early adopters include improvements in security, data transfer rates and reliability. Edge computing, artificial intelligence and large scale data analytics were some of the technologies they plan to exploit with 5G.

The contrast between the enthusiasm for 5G displayed by networking executives and the indifference of many in the UK business community could be explained by a lack of knowledge of what 5G can offer.

PTT’s online courses “Introduction to mobile systems” and “Mobile radio communications” describe the evolution from 2G to 5G mobile systems and the benefits of 5G compared with earlier generations.

Earlier this year, Bluetooth on mobile devices was seen as increasingly outdated and only used for the most innocuous of tasks such as pairing with wireless headphones. However, since the Coronavirus crisis, Bluetooth and other mobile technologies are increasingly at the forefront of tracking cases of the virus with the aim of reducing its spread and preventing a deadly second wave.

Public Health bodies throughout the world are developing contact tracing applications, using the technologies most people now carry in their pockets. Google and Apple, in an unprecedented collaboration, have developed an API these applications can use. Some health bodies, such as in the UK, are using alternative methods. Whichever method is used, however, Bluetooth is fundamental to these applications, with each mobile device acting as a beacon and recording the other devices it comes near. When the user of one of the devices tests positive for Covid-19, all the other users of devices they came in contact with will be notified so they can take the appropriate precautions.

Whilst any measure to fight against the Coronavirus is welcome, contact tracing Apps are of course not without risk. Some are concerned about the privacy of these methods. Even though user data is anonymised, there is concern that there are still ways for governments to identify users which could have privacy implications once the current crisis is over. Worries have also been raised about the security of these applications and, especially since they have been developed hastily, that malicious individuals could find ways of gaining control of devices or compromising user data.

Individuals will have to decide for themselves whether or not to download these applications on their devices. In time, the concerns raised will hopefully be mitigated. With a deadly virus that is affecting so many people worldwide, the risks in downloading your local contact tracing App may very well be worth taking so that society can to return to a sense of normality.

The PTT courses TCB: Wireless communications, MJA: Introduction to mobile systems and MJB: Mobile radio communications give an overview of modern mobile communication technologies, many of which will be used by contact tracing Apps. The course TCG: Telecommunications systems security gives a wider overview of security in the industry.