Designing socially robust 4G wireless services

Abstract

The difficulties and technical limitations of the third generation (3G) of wireless mobile communication systems as well as the emergence of new mobile broadband technologies on the market have prompted university and industry researchers to thoroughly reflect on the fourth generation (4G) of these technologies. In this article, we outline the interaction between technology and society that shall help to develop 4G in a way that maximize its acceptance and penetration in the market, while minimizing the downside risk of its failure. This presupposes that the user is considered as the cornerstone in the design of 4G. As a consequence, we sum up the relevant service design rules derived from such a user-centric model and propose innovative 4G services