The Anatomy of Telecommunications: From the 16th Century to 6G

Early Pre-Telecommunication Era (16th – 18th Century)

• 16th–17th century: Communication relied on visual and acoustic methods (beacons, drums, smoke signals, messengers).
• 1600s–1700s: The first optical telegraphs (signal towers) were used in Europe (notably France by Claude Chappe in 1790s).
  → These systems used moving arms or lights to send coded messages.

The Telegraph & Telephone Era (19th Century)

• 1837: Samuel Morse (USA) invents the electric telegraph → Morse Code revolutionized long-distance messaging.
• 1850s: Telegraph cables spread across Europe and America.
• 1866: First transatlantic telegraph cable connected Europe and North America.
• 1876: Alexander Graham Bell (Scotland-born, working in the USA) patents the telephone.
  → This shifted communication from coded text to real-time voice transmission.

Dominant players (19th century):

• USA (Bell Telephone Company → later AT&T).
• UK (Telegraph systems across the Empire).
• France & Germany (Siemens in telegraphy).

Radio, Broadcasting & Early Wireless (20th Century pre-1940s)

• 1895: Guglielmo Marconi (Italy) demonstrates wireless telegraphy (radio).
• 1901: First transatlantic wireless signal.
• 1920s: Commercial radio broadcasting begins (USA, UK).
• 1930s: Early experiments with television transmission.

Post-War Telecommunications (1940s–1970s)

• 1947: Bell Labs (USA) conceives the cellular network concept.
• 1960s: Satellite communications (Telstar, 1962).
• 1973: Martin Cooper (Motorola, USA) makes the first handheld mobile phone call.

Mobile Generations (1G → 6G)

1G – First Generation (1980s)

• Technology: Analog voice, low capacity, poor security.
• Dominant country: USA (Motorola, AT&T, Bell Labs).
• Leading companies: Motorola, AT&T, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT – Japan).

2G – Second Generation (1990s)

• Technology: Digital voice (GSM, CDMA), SMS, better quality.
• Dominant country: Europe (especially Finland, Sweden) with GSM standard.
• Leading companies: Nokia (Finland), Ericsson (Sweden), Motorola (USA).
• Note: USA pushed CDMA, but GSM (European) dominated globally.

3G – Third Generation (2000s)

• Technology: Mobile internet, video calls, 384 kbps → 2 Mbps speeds.
• Dominant country: Japan (NTT DoCoMo launched first 3G in 2001).
• Leading companies: NTT DoCoMo (Japan), Ericsson (Sweden), Nokia (Finland), Qualcomm (USA).

4G – Fourth Generation (2010s)

• Technology: Mobile broadband (LTE, WiMAX), HD streaming, 100 Mbps+ speeds.
• Dominant country: USA, with Qualcomm and Verizon pioneering LTE.
• Leading companies: Qualcomm (USA), Huawei (China), Ericsson (Sweden), Nokia (Finland), Samsung (Korea).

5G – Fifth Generation (2020s)

• Technology: Gigabit speed, ultra-low latency, IoT, autonomous systems.
• Dominant country: China, leading in deployment and patents.
• Leading companies: Huawei (China), ZTE (China), Ericsson (Sweden), Nokia (Finland), Qualcomm (USA), Samsung (Korea).
• Patent leadership: China holds 30–40% of essential 5G patents (Huawei, ZTE).

6G – Sixth Generation (Expected 2030s)

• Technology: Terahertz frequencies, holographic communication, AI-native networks, 100x faster than 5G.
• Dominant countries (so far):
  • China (early patents & trials, Huawei & ZTE).
  • USA (Qualcomm, Apple, universities).
  • South Korea (Samsung, LG).
  • Europe (Nokia, Ericsson, EU Horizon projects).
• Patent leadership (current, 2025): China leads, followed by the USA and South Korea.