Wireless carriers are using 4G as a club in their advertising wars, but can they deliver? Have they delivered? No. And no.
Let's look at what 4G actually is: "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." NONE of the new networks meet this standard.
Sprint launched a network called 4G first, then T-Mobile. Verizon is poised to launch later this year and AT&T is said to launch next year. These 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.
The reason for calling the networks 4G? Undoubtedly advertising and PR. Once one network claims 4G the others cannot simple ignore it and must keep up in the eyes of the consumer. On the bright side, these new networks will be faster than existing, just not quite what they are being called.
Speed your business up. Email Ballyhoo today and view our SMS campaign management platform.
