Mobile operator were out in full force at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week , boost their improved data networks and unveiling Modern devices . But with their marketing efforts in overdrive , the operators may confuse rather than draw in users .
AT&T , for example , bulge out calling its current upgrade HSPA+ internet 4 thousand instead of 3G. It ’s not the degraded major connection in the country — that ’s Verizon ’s LTE , base on advertised speeds — but AT&T tell it has a better changeover path to its next - generation meshwork .
“ Today , we ’re picture 4 G on HSPA+ in markets with enhanced backhaul , with focal ratio up to 6Mbps , ” said Ralph de la Vega , AT&T Mobility ’s President of the United States and CEO , during his company ’s developers ’ summit hold at CES .
“ We have the best transition path to 4 G and we ’re the only U.S. company with this programme , ” de la Vega say .
He is arguing that AT&T ’s design is better than Verizon ’s because once AT&T starts launching LTE , users will be able to fall down back onto the HSPA+ mesh , which can birth as degenerate as 6 Mbps download hurrying . At CES , AT&T said it will set ahead its timeline for rolling out LTE , with launches starting in the middle of this year .
Verizon , however , is endure straight from its existing 3 G meshwork to LTE , without an interim step like HSPA+ . That mean users who are n’t in the LTE reportage country will drop down to Verizon ’s slower 3 G EV - DO Rev. A ( Evolution - Data Optimized ) web , which offer download speeds of around 600 kbps to 1.4 Mbps .
Still , even if Verizon does n’t have AT&T ’s “ 4 K ” HSPA+ , it has a head start on the inner circle with the flying LTE . Verizon launched LTE in 38 markets in December and last week said it is speed up its upgrade itinerary so that another 140 markets will come online this year . Currently , Verizon ’s LTE internet covers 100 million people , and in 18 months it will reach 200 million people , Tony Melone , master technology officer for Verizon , said at CES . He order the web should declare oneself 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps download speeds .
Further perplexing issue , T - Mobile last hebdomad also announced new design for its own “ 4 universal gravitational constant ” HSPA+ net , tell that it will double the upper so that it ’s capable of delivering an astounding 42 Mbps . That , however , would be the download rate if just one person were connected at a time to a mobile phone tower . operator typically attempt to offer drug user a more naturalistic approximation of the speed they ’ll get in a real - life situation when sharing the connection with other citizenry .
To make the situation even more complicated , the International Telecommunication Union has flip - flopped on what engineering science should officially get the 4 gigabyte sobriquet . In November , the ITU ’s Radiocommunication Sector saidthe only technologies that characterise as 4Gwill be a next version of LTE , called LTE - Advanced , and the next generation of WiMax , known as WirelessMAN - Advanced .
However , in other December it seemed torelent from that stance . Buried in a press spillage , it said that LTE and WiMax may be called 4 G since they offer better carrying into action over 3G.
Consumers may also be mix up because the datum charge per unit they get in the end will depend on whether they have a equipment that works on the fast networks . Currently , the only agency to access Verizon ’s LTE connection is using a USB dongle with a laptop computer .
numberless new gadget were announce last week , few of which are yet available , to draw on all the faster networks . AT&T aver it plan to found 20 newfangled 4 chiliad gadget this yr , with the first appearing in March . One of the unexampled telephone set is the Motorola Atrix , which runs on HSPA+.The Atrix can be couple with a tying up stationthat attend like a laptop computer but has no mainframe .
Verizon express off 10 new gadget that will run on its LTE connection , including one of the first tablet to incline the Honeycomb version of Google ’s Android operating system . That pill , the Xoom , will come from Motorola . The first version will run on Verizon ’s 3 G mesh , but buyers will be eligible for a computer hardware ascent by and by that will make it compatible with the LTE meshing . Verizon is n’t yet explaining the logistics of such a hardware rise .
