Why 4G Standards Really Don't Matter

There was a time, several years ago, when one might have gotten a reasonable argument about which flavor of fourth-generation wireless air interface (WiMAX or Long Term Evolution) was "better." One rarely hears such arguments anymore, for several reasons.

When the world's dominant GSM carriers all decided to embrace LTE, the "standards war" was effectively over. Much in the same way that Hollywood initially squabbled over HD-DVD and Blu-ray as the superior format to bring HD to the masses, the mobile industry at one point argued about the merits of WiMAX and LTE.

The decisions are of course very important to suppliers who had hoped to create a huge new business based on either of the standards. Intel, for example, had hoped to create huge new demand for WiMAX chipsets.

Beyond the technology differences, though, the key questions now are not over format, but business model. It is typical for supporters of next-generation wireless networks to tout new applications enabled by the new networks. Text messaging is a good example of a feature available on a 2G network that could not be provided on a first generation network. Email was a feature available on 2.5 networks.

Proponents of 3G networks always talked about the new applications that 3G would enable. But it took quite some time before specific 3G applications actually developed. As it turns out, PC dongle access and mobile Internet access turned out to be the new apps 3G enabled on a fairly wide basis. But lots of the other potential applications failed to develop.

The issue for 4G networks is whether new apps actually can be created, and how long it will take before that happens. In the meantime, "4G" mostly means "faster broadband" for most end users. The other important angle is that a new network always brings with it the chance to reset consumer expectations about "typical" features and pricing mechanisms.

For the moment, that is the key issue for 4G network operators. In the near term, 4G is unlikely to mean much other than "faster than 3G" as a core value proposition. But 4G pricing and packaging can be different than typically is the case for 3G, and that will be the near term revenue issue of greatest importance.

Over time, it is likely that other "killer apps" will develop. But that will take some time, in all likelihood.

Ironically, neither of these wireless technologies actually qualify as “4G” in the eyes of the International Telecommunication Union, but that hasn’t stopped the carriers’ marketing departments from capitalizing on the term anyway.

The Difference Between 4G and LTE