What The Road To 4G Will Look Like

There are four major wireless carriers in the U.S. (for now) and they each have a slightly different definition of what it means to be 4G. Most of the confusion stems from the fact that there is no true recognized standard for the use of the 4G term, only an initial recommendation from the International Telecommunications Union that such networks be capable of providing 1Gbps (gigabits per second) download speeds to a person standing still holding a phone and 100Mbps to someone traveling on a train or in a car. An awful lot of hot air was spilled this week about the wireless industry’s role in creating innovation, but it’s true to a certain extent. Better, faster tools allow talented people to create things that have never been attempted and make existing things with promise but challenges finally make sense. The only word spoken more than 4G at CTIA was spectrum. It’s one thing to build out a network of fast cell towers, but it’s another to actually make sure they can transmit their signals. It’s one of the primary drivers behind the AT&T/T-Mobile deal and was a key talking point from both industry representatives like the CTIA’s Steve Largent and FCC Commissioner Julius Genachowski: more spectrum needs to be opened up to the wireless industry to continue this growth.

Ask the people at your carrier two or three times to show you exactly where their 4G coverage extends, and how fast their average—not peak—download and upload speeds are at the moment. There’s perhaps something to be said for future-proofing your phone or tablet, but it might be easier to wait until you know 4G coverage is strong in your area before taking the plunge. And start thinking about things you can't do on your mobile phone but can do on your PC because of the network connection, then figure out how to make them possible on a smaller screen with constrained battery life.