The Scoop on 4G Technology & US Wireless Carriers

As many of you may already know the CTIA 2010 show is currently going on and everybody from handset makers to network infrastructure makers to app developers to network testing companies are all discussing about how to better prepare or participate in the movement of the ecosystem of wireless companies toward fast 4G service.

4G technology differs from 3G service in that it handles all services such as voice, internet access, etc in the same way as packets of data. 4G also uses a different and better wireless spectrum than 3G service does, and is capable of providing far better speeds to far more people all at the same time.

The two competing flavors of 4G wireless technology are WiMAX and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) are actually very similar technology-wise, but they operate in two different kinds of wireless spectrum. Much of the buzz that has been going around at the event is a marketing bluster, especially in the LTE world. No 4G-capable smart phones exist as of today although that probably won’t be the case for much longer as Sprint has announced the release of it’s HTC Evo which should be in the market this upcoming summer. On the network side, despite some infrastructure suppliers (Samsung) touting ready-to-deploy LTE network gear, it may be several years before we see a fully deployed LTE network in the United States.

The rapid growth in consumer demand for smartphones and the data service they use has created a sense of urgency in wireless to move quickly towards 4G technology. Each wireless carrier seems to have their own approach toward moving towards 4G and it is evident that some are moving faster than others.

Sprint’s Big Lead in 4G

As of right now, Sprint has a substantial lead over the other large U.S carriers in the move to 4G. The company made good early moves in adopting the WiMAX flavor of 4G by purchasing a controlling interest in Clearwire, which owns impressive amounts of wireless spectrum and currently operates commercial grade WiMAX networks in 27 U.S cities. Sprint’s 4G mobile broadband service runs on Clearwire’s networs and they announced at CTIA on Tuesday that its 4G would soon be available in Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City as well.

Clearwire says its improving their existing networks by doubling the number of transmitters and receivers at each of tis cell sites. Performance tests run by PCWorld have shown that WiMAX networks can pump out speeds that are 10 times faster than 3G, but the reliability and consistency of that performance still lags behind that of the 3G networks that are currently available.

Sprint has already released a 3G/4G wireless hotspot device, the Overdrive, and just recently announced that it’s highly anticipated 3G/4G phone – the HTC Evo 0 will begin selling this summer.



Verizon’s Quick Move Towards 4G

Verizon is also trying to quickly move to 4G by sticking to is promise of lighting up LTE networks in 25 to 30 U.S cities by the end of 2010. The company isn’t saying which cities will be included amongst the list, but promises that the LTE network will reach 100 million people by the end of this year. They have also promised to double the size of the deployment in early 2012 and by 2013, the company states that LTE’s coverage map will look similar to its popular 3G coverage maps today. In fact their 4G network may reach further than the existing 3G network because Verizon owns 4G wireless spectrum (in the 700 MHz band) in more parts of the country than it does 3G spectrum.

The company is currently testing the 4G LTE technology in Boston and Seattle. Verizon CTO Tony Malone said that in the test markets, their 4G network is pumping out an average download speed of 5-12 megabits per second (mbps) and upload speeds of about 2-5 mbps. Verizon says it’s seeing peak download speeds of 40-50 mbps. Verizon believes that the new high-bandwidth apps like real time multiplayer gaming, video conferencing, and HD video streaming will increase in popularity, quickly pointing out the need for faster networks.

AT&T Relaxing

After all the buzz that’s been going on at CTIA about 4G technology, when you listen to AT&T’s executives talk, you might think that AT&T is falling behind in the race to 4G networks compared to its competitors. At a luncheon event with AT&T’s top wireless people the term “4G” wasn’t mentioned even once, until somebody asked about it in the Q&A session at the end.

AT&T just finished a broad software upgrade of its cell sties to the faster HSPA 7.2 technology and doesn’t seem to be in a big hurry to upgrade their network further in the near future. In recent 3G performance tests, AT&T’s network showed 60% faster speeds compared to competitors in the 13 cities that were tested. AT&T broadband speeds also improved more than 80% over the speeds delivered in the 13 testing cities when tested just 8 months prior. The dramatic improvement took place even as AT&T signed up more smart phone subscribers and the users used unprecedented amounts of wireless broadband services provided by the company.

At a luncheon on the second day of the CTIA event, CEO of AT&T Mobility, Ralph De La Vega said his company has enough wireless spectrum holdings nationwide to migrate them to LTE, even if an interim step to the faster HSPA+ is deemed necessary. While HSPA 7.2 maxes out at 7.2 mbps, HSPA+ can deliver speeds of more than 10 mbps on a consistent basis. HSPA+ is a software upgrade allowing the radios on the cell towers to pump out speeds of 10 mbps or more to individual subscribers, that is if the subscriber is even using a device capable of those speeds.

As for LTE, AT&T said that it will begin testing the new technologies in two cities by the end of 2010 but did not name which cities and will not detail its LTE plans beyond that, nor will it comment on its 4G wireless spectrum holdings relative to those of its competitors.

T-Mobile's Plans

New York City and Los Angeles will soon get the new faster service the company said.T-Mobile announced on the first day of the CTIA event that it will upgrade its 3G network to the faster HSPA+ cellular technology in 100 U.S cities by the end of 2010. The company mentioned how its upgrade will cost them between $200 and $300 million while Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T will spend between $8 million and $10 million on their move to the 4G networks.

T-Mobile didn’t get specific about the average speeds the network is puming out in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. but claims that its HSPA+ technology delivers seeds that are three to five times faster than 3G service. The company also claimed that it’s HSPA+ networks are faster than Clearwire G WiMAX networks but wouldn’t release much information or numbers to prove it.

How Does This Effect You?

So how does all this technical info effect you? Well it doesn’t just yet unless you happen to live in one of Sprint’s 27 WiMAX cities. One thing to note that there is a paradigm shift occurring here. Just as nowadays people feel they can’t leave the house without the ability to make a phone call at hand, one day people will feel the same way about accessing the internet. As this shift takes place, wireless networks will be increasingly taxed by more smart phone users using more and more bandwidth hungry mobile applications. The wireless companies are doing their best to stay ahead of the coming demand, lets see how things turn out.

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