A beginner's guide to 4G mobile services

4G is the name for the next (4th) generation of mobile services that are likely to be heading our way in 2013 and 2014. 

But what are these new standards and what do they mean for consumers?

Well, first and foremost, 4G will mean much faster internet connections for our mobile and wireless devices.  Initially, users will be getting mobile internet speeds  that will be comparable with current home broadband speeds (from 1Mbps up to 12Mbs) but, ultimately, 4G will reach speeds of up to 100Mbps.

This will mean that users will be able to download all types of multimedia content on-the-move: from playing on-line video games, downloading movies (and other large data files) and watching streaming high-definition video content.

The international standards are still being agreed for 4G, but currently there are three different protocols in the mix. These are: WiMAX, LTE & HSPA+.

1. WiMAX
WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access.  It uses microwave technology to create a network of hotspots (very much like WiFi hotspots) that overlap to minimise black-spots/areas without a signal.  However, because it uses microwaves it has much less interference than WiFi and the range of each WiMAX transmitter can be up to 30miles.

In the US, the carrier Sprint is using WiMAX technology for its 4G services offering download speeds of up to 128Mbps.

2. LTE
LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is a competitor standard to WiMAX.  It uses radio waves and has been described as more of a 'successor' to the current GSM-based (Global System for Mobile communications) 3G mobile phone networks that we're all used to.  It's called Long Term Evolution as it has been seen as the evolution of both land-line & wireless internet connections.

Verizon's 4G service (again in the US) is based on LTE  offering data transfer speeds of up to 100Mbps.

3. HSPA+
This stands for Evolved High-Speed Packet Access.  In essence this is an extension of the current 3G technology - and so has been dubbed near-4G.  However it's not really a new 4th generation standard.


Now it's argued that the 'battle' between WiMAX and LTE is not really a battle of completely different standards.  Being based on the same OFDM (orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing) there may be opportunities for interoperability between the two systems.  And that would be a good thing from a user perspective - as the last thing users want is the 'gamble' of choosing one technology over another - only to be left backing the wrong horse.

However, as we've seen before with standards - these tend to get branded and badged (think Blu-ray vs HD-DVD) and, ultimately, consumers will select the handsets & tariffs that offer the most from these differing technologies.

The biggest issue will be the speed that the mobile and technology companies roll-out the infrastructure to support 4G.  In the UK the mobile operators are still paying off the £21bn they spent on 3G licences and so are have been slow in moving towards 4G.  Other countries, however, such as the US and Russia.are already rolling out services. 

There's no doubt that wireless internet is the future of an 'always connected' society.  4G will bring the speeds that we're familiar with at home and will mean the creation of new services and business models that weren't previously possible.