Nowadays in Tanzania, some telecommucation companies also known as Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are investing heavily in mobile broadband technologies including new base stations, higher-bandwidth tower connections and new backhaul solutions to meet emerging 4G/LTE requirements. Fourth generation wireless systems(4G) are likely to reach the consumer market in another few years and it comes with the promise that it will increased bandwidth, higher speeds ,greater interoperability across communication protocols, user friendly, innovative and secure applications. However, there are a lot of challenges which might lead to fading of the expected promises. Quantitative approach was used in this study whereby exhaustive literature review of thirteen (13) papers was conducted to compare and find out the relationship between the variables. Frequency and percentage were computed to find out the results. The findings show that mobile handset incompatibility, handoff issues, security and privacy issues, quality of service support problems, high billing to customers, complex infrastructure requirement, network spectrum problems, and mobile handset expenses are the challenges which might hinder MNOs from migrating from 3G to 4G.The study recommends that before deploying 4G network systems standardized environment which will facilitate the seamless accommodation of the newly technology and therefore entrenching the possibility of gaining from the technology the enticing advantages to both users’ and providers.
[1] H. Bo, V. Gopalakrishnan, L. Ji, and S. Lee, “Network function virtualization: Challenges and opportunities for innovations.” Communications Magazine, IEEE 53, no. 2 (2015): 90-97.
[2] P. Vasco and T. Sousa, “Evolution of Mobile Communications: from 1G to 4G,” Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra, Portugal (2004).
[3] S. Pankaj, “Evolution of mobile wireless communication networks-1G to 5G as well as future prospective of next generation communication network,” International Journal of Computer Science and Mobile Computing 2, no. 8 (2013): 47-53.
[4] International Telecommunication Union, “Measuring the Information Society Report”: International Telecommunication Union, Geneva Switzerland, 2014.
[5] B. M., Ratana, and A. V. Bhalla, “Generations of mobile wireless technology: A survey,” International Journal of Computer Applications 5, no. 4 (2010).
[6] I. Waseem, and S. A., Chaudhry, “Future generations of mobile communication networks,” Academy of Contemporary Research (2013): 15.
[7] L. Xichun, A. Gani, R. Salleh, and O. Zakaria, “The future of mobile wireless communication networks,” In Communication Software and Networks, 2009. ICCSN’09. International Conference on, pp. 554-557. IEEE, 2009.
[8] S. Ahmed, “Analysis of Mobile Data Services and Internet in Switzerland, India and Tanzania,” PhD diss., University of Neuchâtel, 2013.
[9] TCRA June 2015 Statistics, “Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority,” www.tcra.go.tz. Retrieved on 5th January 2016.
[10] M. Adam, and F. R. Ishengoma, “Factors Affecting QoS in Tanzania Cellular Networks,” arXiv preprint arXiv: 1410.0533 (2014).
[11] Z. Jingyuan, and I. Stojmenovic, “Cellular networks,” University of Alabama, University of Ottawa, Canada (2005).
[12] B.A. Series, “Mobile network evolution: a revolution on the move,” IEEE Communications magazine (2002): 104.
[13] P. Vasco, and T. Sousa, “Evolution of Mobile Communications: from 1G to 4G,” Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra, Portugal (2004).
[14] K. Amit, Dr Y. Liu, and J. Sengupta, “Evolution of Mobile Wireless Communication Networks: 1G to 4G,” International Journal of electronics & communication technology 1, no. 1 (2010): 68-72.
[15] R. M. Kumar, A. N. Singh, V. Vasanthi, B. Bharati, and M. Hemalatha, “4G–fourth generation wireless systems requirements and technical challenges,” Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology 31, no. 1 (2011): 29-35.
[16] R. Pierce M., and M. Heimlich, “Power and latency limitations in secondary spectrum reuse for mobile and home wireless systems,” In Wireless Personal Multimedia Communications (WPMC), 2014 International Symposium on, pp. 480-485. IEEE, 2014.
[17] N. Nikesh, “Voice quality control in packet switched wireless networks,” PhD diss., Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2012.
[18] M. R. Galan, and J. Rumanyika, “Business Constraints and Potential Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Tanzania,” A Review: European Journal of Business and Management 6, no. 32 (2014): 72-79,2014.
[19] J. A. Mohammed, M. K. Almsafir, and A. S. M. Alnaser, “The factors that affects e-commerce adoption in small and medium enterprise: A review,” Aus. J.2013.
[20] D.U. Adokar, and P. J. Rajput, “Wireless Evolution with 4G Technologies,” 2012.
[21] L. Xichun, A. Gani, R. Salleh, and O. Zakaria,” The future of mobile wireless communication networks,” In Communication Software and Networks, 2009. ICCSN’09. International Conference on, pp. 554-557, IEEE 2009.
[22] M. J. Arshad, A. Farooq, and A. Shah, “Evolution and development towards 4th generation (4G) mobile communication systems,” Journal of American Science 6, no. 12 (2010): 63-68.
[23] B. Renuka “3G to 4G core network migration,” Radisys White Paper (2010).
[24] C. Sonali, and V. Mane, “4G Wireless Networks Challenges and Benefits,” International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering 3, no. 7 (2013): p307-p310.
[25] O. Fagbohun, “Comparative studies on 3G, 4G and 5G wireless technology,” IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering 9, no. 3 (2014): 88-94.
[26] M. K.P Malecha ., and K. H. Wandra, “4G Wireless Networks: Opportunities and Challenges,” In India Conference (INDICON), 2009 Annual IEEE, pp. 1-4. IEEE, 2009.
[27] K. Kumaravel, “Comparative study of 3G and 4G in mobile technology,” IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues 8, no. 5 (2011): 3.
[28] A.K. Rathore, R. K. Chaurasia, R. Mishra, and H. Kumar, “Road Map and Challenges in 4G Wireless System,” J Elec Electron 1, no. 2 (2012).
[29] Kalyani, R. Ludwig, P. Mogensen, V. Nandlall, V. Vucetic, B. Yi, and Z. Zvonar, “LTE part I: core network,” Communications Magazine, IEEE 47, no. 2 (2009): 40-43.
[30] I.M. Kaleem, M. Bilal, I. Rasheed, and A. Sandhu, “4G Evolution and Multiplexing Techniques with solution to implementation challenges,” In Cyber-Enabled Distributed Computing and Knowledge Discovery (CyberC), 2012 International Conference on, pp. 485-488. IEEE, 2012 Basic Applied Sci.7 (2013): 406-412.
[31] F. Frank, A. Köpsel, A. Wolisz, M. Krishnam, and M. Reisslein, “Providing application-level QoS in 3G/4G wireless systems: a comprehensive framework based on multirate CDMA,” Wireless Communications, IEEE 9, no. 2 (2002): 42-47.
