1:40 PM '4G-like' WiMax and LTE now require air quotes
1:40 PM -- WiMax and Long Term Evolution (LTE) are certainly faster than 3G, but they aren't fourth-generation wireless networks in the true sense of the term. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said today that only 802.16m WiMax 2 and LTE-Advanced are technically 4G -- and those won't be deployed until 2015.
Everything else gets air quotes.
Light Reading Mobile has been saying that since the term was coined, but the ITU makes it more official that the networks Telia Company , Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), MetroPCS Inc. (NYSE: PCS), and others have rolled out are quite literally not up to speed. Those are only 3.9G, the ITU says. (See Las Vegas – Mobile Broadband Capital of the US and ITU Approves New 4G Specs.)
All that really means is that the carriers should stop using the term 4G in advertising or fall back to T-Mobile US Inc. 's favorite expression, "4G-like speeds." (See 4G World: Faster 3G in US – Charting HSPA+, 4G World: AT&T to Go to 21Mbit/s HSPA+ in 2011?, and T-Mobile's HSPA+ Rivals Clearwire, US LTE Speeds.)
Probably won't matter much as most consumers have no idea what "G" their phone is anyway.
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile
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