Now that the ITU has caved to the marketers at big telecom, miracles happen. AT&T (T), America’s second-largest wireless carrier, found that its 3G HSPA+ network had automagically evolved all by itself into a fourth-generation (4G) wireless network. Proponents of 4G promise that 4G mobile internet speeds are considerably faster than current wireless networks providing faster download, super-fast video streaming, and more billing opportunities.
Since the ITU downgraded the definition of 4G to catch up with the marketers and declared, “4G … may also be applied … to the initial third generation systems now deployed” there is no consensus of what exact speed is a 4G network, so companies are free to claim what they want and hopefully the market will sort it out.
AT&T is betting that its customers are too dumb to care. TechEYE cites a Reuters report that AT&T’s chief exec Ralph de la Vega believes that consumers won’t notice the difference between HSPA+ and the forthcoming LTE network stating that “The whole industry has come to equate more speed with 4G.” TechEYE points out that AT&T saw a similar miracle in September 2010 when the marketers found that its HSPA+ network became “the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network.”
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The Business Insider has proof consumers don’t care about 4G. They report on Nielsen on findings that only 54% really knew what it meant (super-fast wireless). 27% of the people polled think it’s the latest version of the iPhone. Only 29% of the people polled said they were planning on buying a 4G phone in the next year.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.