4G in networks

In today's state of the market, one of the most touted and sought-after features in phones is 4G. Indeed, the ability to take advantage of much faster data speeds, compared to what we had just a year ago, is nothing short of awesome, as we're increasingly using our phones to connect to the internet, for most various reasons.

But are we really getting 4G with all of those 4G-branded devices out there, and could it be so that some carriers are simply using the term in order to make their devices look more attractive, without delivering the true 4G connectivity that is expected from such a device?


4G in networks

Most of you probably remember that the initial rulings by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) indicated that none of the current carrier networks were 4G. Initially, it was only the next-generation LTE-Advanced and WiMAX 2 technologies that were considered 4G, due to their ability to offer download throughputs of about 100 Mbit/s. However, once the carriers started reasoning that their current services offer significant improvements over standard 3G that shouldn't be overlooked, the ITU eventually decided the all three current technologies – LTE, WiMAX and HSPA+, should be considered fourth-generation.

So far, so good. However, it seems that even with the ITU's now more relaxed understandings of what a 4G network is, there are still some phones on the market, which are branded as “4G”, but actually do not deliver those promised speeds. How come?

Before HSPA+, there was HSPA, an enhanced version of original 3G networks. HSPA (standing for High-Speed Packet Access) was defined in 3GPP's (this is the institution where all these standards originate from) Release 5 and 6, where it is clearly stated that HSPA allows for theoretical peak downlink speeds of 14.4 Mbit/s, and theoretical peak uplink speeds of 5.76 Mbit/s. Again, HSPA is still considered 3G (some like to call it 3.5G).

The HSPA+ standard is first specified in 3GPP Release 7, where it is defined to offer peak speeds of 21 Mbit/s on the downlink, and 11.5 Mbit/s on the uplink. This is the technology that is considered 4G by the ITU.