The Ultimate 4G Guide

 4G is not just about adding more megabits per second, it’s about creating killer apps and a new class of connected gadgets that simply were not possible before. We’re talking about smart phones that stream HD videos, 4G-enabled cars that deliver on-demand entertainment, and home automation apps that let you control everything from energy usage to security on the go.

So what exactly is 4G, what are the technologies behind it, how much will it cost, and how will it change your life? We have the answers.

Defining 4G

The next generation of mobile broadband, also known as 4G, currently comes in two commonly accepted flavors—Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX. However, the board that defines this technology, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), says it won’t label anything 4G until October of this year. So are LTE and WiMAX 4G technologies or not?

ABI Research’s Philip Solis, the firm’s practice director for wireless connectivity, says they are. “These new technologies are based on OFDMA, which is different from CDMA technologies, so it is the next generation of mobile broadband technology,” he said. OFDMA stands for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, and allows the transmission of large amounts of data over a radio network by splitting the signal into smaller sub-signals that transmit at different frequencies, thereby avoiding interference. WiMAX, based on the IEEE 802.16e standard, and LTE both use OFDMA technology, which requires low amounts of power to transmit and is more effective at using the available wireless spectrum.

  However, some don’t consider WiMAX and LTE to be true 4G technologies because the radio communication sector of the ITU hasn’t finished its work. Many argue that the term, as it is being applied to WiMAX and LTE, is nothing more than marketing speak. So should consumers be concerned if carriers throw around the term 4G or 4G-like speeds if the technology is not official? Not if the service is significantly better than what came before it.

“The average person who walks into a store to buy a wireless product doesn’t care what the definition of 3G or 4G is,” said Mike DiGioia, a Clearwire spokesperson. “Nobody buys based on the technology. They buy based on the pricing plan, the performance, the service, and where it works.” 

How Fast Is It?

Clear’s Mobile WiMAX network, also used by Sprint, promises download speeds in the 3 to 6 Mbps range with bursts up to 10 Mbps. Verizon Wireless’ upcoming LTE network promises even faster speeds with 5 to 12 Mbps downloads. Meanwhile, today’s 3G networks crawl along at 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps with bursts up to 2 Mbps. To give you an idea of just how fast 4G is, when Sprint’s 4G service first launched in the Baltimore area we downloaded a half-hour TV show from iTunes in just over 6 minutes, while it took four times as long over Verizon Wireless’ 3G network.

Plus, 4G means less latency. In other words, sending and receiving packet data between your device and the network is considerably quicker. All these benefits should combine to make video streaming, video chatting, web browsing, and online gaming a smoother and more pleasurable experience.

T-Mobile is deploying a separate technology called HSPA+, which purportedly delivers “4G-like” speeds. The carrier claims its network has a theoretical peak download speed of 21 Mbps, but in our tests we’ve seen between 2 and 5 Mbps. Still, that’s just as fast as what some are experiencing at home with slower cable or DSL broadband. In fact, our trial in Philadelphia proved that HSPA+ is just as fast, if not faster, than Mobile WiMAX.

Technology Pros & Cons

Why did the major U.S. carriers choose different technologies for their 4G plans? It’s simple: timing and available spectrum. Sprint wanted to be first with a next-gen mobile broadband service, so it went the Mobile WiMAX route, thanks in part to its relationship with Clearwire. “WiMAX was quicker to get to market, which means getting 4G handsets and devices out sooner,” said David Owens, Sprint’s vice president of consumer acquisitions. “It’s also much cheaper to move data at higher speeds with WiMAX.”

Mobile WiMAX, which uses the 2.5-GHz band in the U.S., started out in just a handful of cites, but it’s now available in 32 markets, including Las Vegas and Philadelphia. Clear and Sprint plan to cover 100 million people by the end of the year while adding such key cities as New York and San Francisco.

The supposed advantage of how Mobile WiMAX is being implemented in the U.S. is that it offers lots of capacity for data traffic, but some say the high-frequency signal doesn’t penetrate buildings very well. “You’d have the same issue if Verizon decided to deploy LTE at 2.5-GHz,” said Peter Jarich, research director of telecom infrastructure, mobile networks, and carrier core at Current Analysis. “When you have a higher spectrum and a higher frequency, the signal doesn’t go as far.”

Currently, there are two Mobile WiMAX devices available from Sprint: the Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot and the U301 USB data stick. But the highly anticipated Evo 4G will be Sprint’s first 4G smart phone, beating Verizon Wireless to market by nearly a year. Sprint and its partners also plan to release data cards and laptops with embedded 4G connectivity.

 Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless is aggressively pushing ahead with LTE, which will use the 700-MHz band. The advantage of using this frequency is that it travels further than 2.5-GHz and will likely require less cell sites to blanket a given geographic area. “Verizon is going to get much better coverage and much better penetration,” predicted Jarich. Plus, as an emerging standard LTE has much larger industry support and a faster-growing ecosystem of carriers, chipmakers, and device manufacturers gearing up for this flavor of 4G. “There are 60-plus mobile operators worldwide that are dedicated to rolling out LTE, versus only a handful for Mobile WiMAX,” Jarich said. 

 Verizon Wireless plans to cover 25 to 30 markets by the end of 2010, reaching 100 million people. The carrier promises total network coverage by 2013. It won’t deliver 4G phones, however, until the middle of next year.

Instead of diving right into LTE, T-Mobile is boosting its HSPA+ efforts. “T-Mobile doesn’t have spectrum for LTE right now. That’s why they’re expanding and upgrading their HSPA network,” said ABI Research’s Solis. It makes sense for the No. 4 U.S. operator, since upgrading is much easier than laying the groundwork for LTE. The carrier will cover more than 100 major metropolitan markets by the end of 2010, and promises to deliver HSPA+ phones by the end of the year as well.

AT&T is busy reinforcing its 3G network with 7.2 Mbps HSPA while it prepares for LTE in the background. The carrier announced in January that it plans on investing up to $2 billion in its network to meet the heavy data demands of its users (especially iPhone owners). It has also been the most aggressive in promoting connected devices, including the iPad, netbooks, and various eReaders. However, AT&T won’t begin commercial deployment of LTE until 2011. In the meantime, it will roll out HSPA+ “in certain locations.”