Wireless carriers are touting that they have the best 4G, but does anyone really understand what they are saying? Nielsen did a survey to find out. One in five aren't aware of 4G and 49% don't understand what 4G is. However, 3 in 10 were still planning to buy 4G in the next 12 months.
The Nielsen Company recently fielded a survey of more than 2,100 U.S.
adults to gauge consumer awareness and perceptions of 4G as well as
purchase intent.
About one in five wireless consumers
are not aware of 4G, and of the remaining four that have heard of 4G, only
two claim to understand it. That's not surprising since, in this case,
consumer confusion mirrors industry confusion.
Up until recently, the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU)
official definition of 4G was a standard that no U.S. carriers met.
Under pressure, the ITU revised its definition of 4G to include any
technology that was a 'meaningful improvement' over 3G. Under that
definition, all three U.S. 4G technologies now qualify: WiMAX, LTE and HSPA+.
When asked to define 4G, 54 percent of those that responded selected the
original ITU definition: mobile data speeds of more than 100 Mbit/s,
even though Nielsen reported that no carrier worldwide currently reaches speeds that high.
Also of note, 27 percent of respondents thought that the iPhone 4 was 4G
(it's not), likely due to the naming conventions of the last several
iPhone devices: iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4. Additionally, a
number of respondents selected slightly ambiguous definitions of 4G; for example, several of T-Mobile's new Android phones are HSPA+ (the
MyTouch 4G and the G2), but not all new Android phones at T-Mobile are
HSPA+.
Despite confusion about what constitutes 4G, almost 3 in 10 consumers
surveyed said they were planning on buying a 4G device within the next
12 months. While there's no data yet to suggest how many of those
subscribers will actually purchase a 4G device in the next year, a new
device is only a contract away.
You reported "original ITU definition: mobile data speeds of more than 100 Mbit/s, even though no carrier worldwide currently reaches speeds that high.
This is partially incorrect. Clearwire has trialed a 2.5GHz network in Arizona that can provide 90MB/s using only 1/5th of it's allocated spectrum. Meanwhile, LTE using spectrum at 700MHz seems to tap out at 20-30MB/s.
The technology that enables this is called MIMO, which was originally part of the 802.11n standard. With 802.11n Using spatial diversity, WiFi wireless was able to increase throughput.
LTE is much more than speed. It also dictates using this new technique to increase throughput. Additionally, 4G spells out 200 simultaneous connections. This part of the ITU standard seems this is quickly forgotten.
We learned years ago with cable modems that it's of no use to advertise "up to" speeds.
On Cellular technology, cell towers are generally further apart than the comparable PCS 1900MHz frequencies which also means less possibility of cellular providers meeting the true 4G standard.
But the biggest problem is that 4G at 700MHz/800/850MHz can't effectively use MIMO. MIMO requires directionality of the signal.
Running 4G at lower frequencies is like having a home audio system purely with a subwoofer. The lower the frequency, the signal is less directional, and it has less ability to use MIMO spacial diversity.
Indeed, you can stash the subwoofer in a corner or under a table and it sounds just as good.
Contrasting, MIMO works by reflection of signals, similar to the placement of home audio satellite speakers.
When we look at WiFi standards, 802.11n is much like this. It took so long to ratify 802.11n because the FCC had to clear spectrum in the higher 5.6GHz range, but it worked because it uses spacial diversity from multiple antennas. The higher frequency also means it satisfied reflectivity requirements. Going back down in frequency means a louder subwoofer. Developing a network that's loud enough to blast through neighbors walls and uses sub-woofer technology is easy. You just need to have one big subwoofer, and lots of spectrum.
In comparison, Clearwire demo'ed a 20MHz slice LTE network at 2.5GHz during CES. It showed that a small amount of spectrum can provide 90MB/s
Meanwhile, it seems LTE using spectrum at 700MHz seems to tap out at 20-30MB/s.
This breakthrough in bandwidth efficiency means one of two things- The FCC will have to clear up to 300MHz for 800/850MHz to provide the efficiency a 20MHz 2.5GHz can provide, or your well established Cellular carriers will have to come clean, start using the idle AWS spectrum they acquired and start a major network build-out.
It's 2011 and time to stop primarily depending on those lower frequencies because they are a crutch to delivering ITU standard in 2011.
PCS providers have the ability to scale using MIMO. Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, T-Mobile, will surpass the Cellular providers on 4G and probably won't need to take part in any rumored future FCC auctions.
Dear Fred:
This information was provided by Nielsen and points out how confusing the requirements and term 4G are. Thank you for clearing up the matter.