“The International Telecommunication Union, the global wireless standards-setting organization, determined last month that 4G is defined as a network capable of download speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps). That’s fast enough to download an average high-definition movie in about three minutes,” Goldman reports. “None of the new networks the carriers are rolling out meet that standard.”
“Sprint was the first to launch a network called 4G, going live with it earlier this year. Then, T-Mobile launched its 4G network, claiming to be ‘America’s largest 4G network.’ Verizon plans to launch its 4G network by the end of the year, which it claims will be the nation’s largest and the fastest. AT&T is expected to unveil its 4G network next year,” Goldman reports. “Those networks have theoretical speeds of a fifth to a half that of the official 4G standard. The actual speeds the carriers say they’ll achieve are just a tenth of ‘real’ 4G.”
“So why are the carriers calling these networks 4G?” Goldman asks. “It’s mostly a matter of PR…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It is unwise to play leapfrog with a unicorn.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “ajdowntown” for the heads up.]
To the illusion of wealth, beauty, security, and power we can now add 4G.
Not surprising when marketing in the US is trying to sell snake oil. (While too much government interference is bad, some regulation is needed to stop the lying.)
Here’s the question: does ANYONE around the globe have 4G service right now?
I am usually a little put-off by the snarky-ness of the MDN Take… But BRAVO! That was pretty funny!
Since wired connections would be hard pressed to deliver 100Mb, depending on copper quality & length, 4G appears to be a pipe dream at the moment.
Is there any ‘truth in advertising’ law that might be used to sue these carriers in the US? If they promise 4G, and the official definition of 4G is 100Mbps, and the carriers actually offer 10Mbps, would consumers be able to sue (“I bought this phone expecting 4G; all I got was a promise, but not even a guarantee of a measly 10Mbps!”)?
This is worse than advertising standard-def, 480p digital TV as HD.
Who cares about global standards? This is the United States of America, we ARE the globe. We keep it spinning. And we have our own laws and standards which don’t involve the UN or any of that other globalist crap.
We’ll sort it all out eventually, but for now 4G is simply a marketing term representative of the next step in data speeds. It isn’t the first time our definition hasn’t paralleled with the rest of the world and it certainly won’t be the last. We’re Americans, we do things our own way.
“So why are the carriers calling these networks 4G?” Goldman asks. “It’s mostly a matter of PR…”
PR? Or deception? By any other name 4G would be as lame.
What was that ITU? I couldn’t quite hear you over the promotional noise coming from Sprint, T-Mo and the Verizon camps.
The whole charm of MDN recycled news is their no-hold-barred snarkiness, me feels, until of course when they throw below the belt punches from time to time.
The head line should have read, “4G is a myth; None of the world’s carriers’ networks meet the official 4G speed standard”
They tell us how “fast” they aren’t in terms of the 4G standard. All well and good. What is the comparison to the 3G standard and/or the typical 3G network speed?
R2 has a point, a bit ego-centric, but a point. So … I want to know: is the current faked-up “4G” faster than the previous “standard”, and by how much? I’m not so much interested in who is willing to claim the higher standard so much as who has the greater performance. And then, as my phone is the dumbest on the block, only as a question of facts.
*sticks fingers in ears and sings to self* “La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La La “
this follows the same pattern as the 3G rollout….folks were calling things 3G long before they were ever within sniffing distance of 3G speeds….
typical business/corporate BS…..4G is their fourth generation network which is better than their third generation network…but way way way slower than official “4G” specs
Isn’t this similar to what happened in 3G? Verizon calls their network 3G, but it doesn’t actually meet the standard? I think I’ll have to go read an old Dilger article to remind myself.
Typical American marketing and PR bullshit.
MacDailyNews Take: It is unwise to play leapfrog with a unicorn.
Unless you are Gloria Allred. She might term that as “Instant Gratification”!
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See what she says in the video about how she loves being groped by TSA at the airport…
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/20/allred-hey-i-actually-enjoyed-my-tsa-patdown/
Everyone lies!
How is it that South Korea has better speeds than the USA?
In the U.S., Delaware currently leads with 7.2 Mbps, though it remains far behind South Korea, where the average speed is almost 15 Mpbs. Currently, the U.S. is in 18th place, far behind Japan, Hong Kong, Romania and Sweden. The average U.S. broadband speed is currently 3.9 Mbps.
Verizon has announced 4G will be turned on in Orlando on December 4. The one person with a 4G phone is delighted.
How is it that South Korea has better speeds than the USA?
Gee, maybe it has something to do with square miles, not to mention terrain, to cover?
South Korea: 38,691 total square miles
U.S.A: 3,790,000 total square miles
I must be off my meds.
I agree with R2 and DL.
There’s often a gap between what’s theoretically possible and what’s practically executable. This “standard” represents the former.
It is in the telco’s best interest to invest in the fastest technology that they could practically deploy and maintain. “Then why is ‘4G’ faster in other countries?” Because geography matters.
So let’s not grouse too long because the telcos haven’t yet met the maximum performance outlined by a theoretical standard. Instead we should be glad that the market continues to incentivise these companies to improve, and vote with our dollars for the company that actually delivers the best product.
But you must admit those Mac clone commercials are absolute classics.
Daniel Eran Dilger had this nailed months ago:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/07/02/reality-check-cdmaverizon-iphone-is-nothing-like-mac-os-x-for-intel/#more-4354
=:~)
The ITU are morons! The decided last month what freaking 4G was? Where the hell have they been? 4G and LTE have been talked about for 10 god damn years … freaking idiots! Last month they should have told us what 5 freaking G was going to be. Why don’t they tell us the voltage in the US should be 140V and that we really don’t meet spec. If people waited for these clowns, they would just be starting the engineering work. Tell us what 5G is going to be speed wise and maybe I’ll be impressed.
Jerks
Add Clear(wire) to the list of mythical 4G Internet services.
Often they are slower than dialup!
@R2
“…This is the United States of America,
we ARE the globe…”
You should get out of the house more and look around.