One of the more annoying marketing gimmicks among wireless carriers, but also true among WiFi hardware makers as well, is that as soon as a new standard is announced, the urge to jump in and declare “we have that,” often trumps actually waiting for standards to be finalized, and far too often before the company can even deliver the real goods.
Case in point is the 4G service being touted by the nation’s wireless carriers. In case they weren’t aware, the term ‘4G’ actually means something. In 2008, the ITU-R organization specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G standards, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 Mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).
With that said, which of the carriers are truly delivering data speeds truly approaching the 4G standard? Seattle-based Analyst Root Metrics set out to determine exactly that. In a test comparing AT&T’s HSPA+, Sprint’s WiMAX, T-Mobile’s HSPA+21 and Verizon’s LTE networks in the Seattle area, the company used 4G-capable smartphones to get a clearer picture of what the consumer experience looks like on the ground. Down here in reality.
What they found will interest you.
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