What are the key factors that have made the internet cheap and fast in the wireless era as compared to old times?

I don't think that it was any single factor or idea but rather several different things coming together that has made wireless internet cheap and fast.

There is more fiber connectivity today than any other time before. The way the internet is structured it still requires fixed line transport. But luckily that transport is extremely fast and extremely cheap both on the scale of passive components (like the cable) and on the scale of active components like the switches.

Cheap consumer devices have enabled more people to get on the internet and help drive revenue for internet service providers who have in turn invested their profits to get even more people on to the network. Rural areas are lagging behind but there are positive developments on that front too with penetration of fiber as well as development of low cost access points.

The application industry has done really well. Facebook,YouTube, amazon, flipkart have all built services that people want to use. Due to their efforts, the internet became more than just a messaging platform. With cloud data centers It became easier for developers to build their own applications and publish them on the internet. So consumers got even more things to choose from. Which means more investment is being made to get them online.

Even if we look at only wireless, the developments in the semiconductor industry have helped create better, more powerful radios and integrated antennas making mobile just as good as the desktop for day to day tasks. Nearly everyone who has a mobile is on the network.

All of these things came together to make wireless internet cheap and fast.

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Notes by Akshat Jiwan Sharma

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