AT&T is planning to promote the iPhone 4S as a “4G” device in an effort to differentiate itself from rival carriers Verizon and Sprint, according to a new report. Citing an internal memo that has since been confirmed by AT&T, The Verge reports that the company is working with Apple to have “4G” branding added to the status bar of iPhone 4S devices running on its network. While both AT&T and T-Mobile have labeled their HSPA+ networks as “4G” for marketing purposes, and the memo refers to the iPhone 4S as a HSPA+ device, Apple made no such claims during its event nor on its website, where the handset is listed as supporting HSDPA/HSUPA networks, with a theoretical download cap of 14.4Mbps, significantly slower than the 84 Mbps cap of HSPA+ when deployed with MIMO technology. AT&T said in its confirmation that it and Apple are “working together” on the branding change, and said that “customers will get 4G speeds from day one” regardless.
AT&T plans to promote iPhone 4S as a ‘4G’ device
11 comments
4G??? Big Joke! I have been told by AT&T that my city won’t be getting ‘3G’ until—the earliest, July 2012 !!???! We still just have edge and sometimes not even that!! Even verizon has 3G!! Good Grief!!!by the time we get 4g they will be up to 7 or beyond…
Its a real shame ATT is touting 4G when there isn’t even 3G in many areas. Hell where I live Edge is best I can do. What good is an iphone on Edge-really…..
Does any carrier out there really technically have 4G yet, or are they all just marketing it as 4G?
#4: Verizon’s LTE is true 4G, in limited markets, and globally I’m sure there are others.
Shouldn’t this seriously be classified as “false advertising” ?
Not to be outdone… Sprint and Verizon plan to add a rear spoiler and racing stripes to all of their iPhones so they can be marketed as 5G devices.
#5: wrong. The LTE network technology currently deployed by Verizon is marketed as 4G but does not meet all the spec requirements of true 4G.
4G, 5G? what the huff!
Holloween come,
Thanksgiving come,,
Christmas come,,,
Is not enough?
I heard Santa coming 2011
(with him reindeer and elve),
but bring toys exclusive
to Christmas 2012!
And come same with developer
Beta in between,
slate release for Christmas
on July 4, 2013!
If that not all,
Spring,
Slated for Fall…
You get the idea! ☺
Verizon is deploying LTE which many view as “real” 4G in paired 10MHz bands up and down (FDD), supporting 15Mbps in each direction. So in fact Verizon’s “4G” network tops out at 15Mbps down (not including compression gain if any). Which isn’t anywhere near the original 100Mbps definition of 4G either. Honestly if AT&T can achieve 14+ Mbps using HSDPA+ and Verizon phones are doing under 15Mbps, those arguing that Verizon can use 4G on its phones, but AT&T can’t are making a pretty esoteric argument.
Lets wait and see what real benchmarks show the performance to be on the various phones/networks. And make our decisions based on those.
#9—I believe I mentioned earlier that Verizon’s 4G network is not true 4G, and, like you, accept the possibility that the new iPhone might hold its own with LTE devices currently available on Verizon. If I’m cynical, it’s because AT&T has already defined its own spec for what constitutes a 4G device, and the iPhone 4S does not meet this spec. Perhaps AT&T expects the latest iPhone to perform as well as devices it rates as 4G by its existing standards, but I cannot help but wonder if asking Apple to make this change is more about selling iPhones than preserving the integrity of its classification scheme.
It isn’t 4g, period. It doesn’t meet the required minimum specs, and it won’t.
If a jumbo jet is defined in part as a jet able to carry say 300 people… and I can strap 300 bodies to the outside of a lear jet and fly, is a lear jet a jumbo jet?
Seriously, ATT hasn’t invested in 4g tech, they can’t even meet the very minimum of the requirements, and miss target on half of it (upload speed). So why should they get a pass to “fake” 4g in order to increase sales when they 1) don’t qualify 2) it’s a lie and 3) they don’t have the infrastructure?
Stop allowing yourselves to be fooled into thinking you are getting something you are not.
If ATT truely believes they should have the 4g moniker then they ened to go to the ITU-R standards body and propose changes to the 4G spec so their lesser implementation can qualify. Good luck with that.