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Consumers Want 4G, But Do You Really Understand it?

Posted by: Posted date: November 08, 2011 In: Mobile | comment : 11

Earlier today I was doing online research on mobile phones because there is a particular phone I’m interested in called the Samsung Galaxy Note. I then questioned myself, does it have 4G connectivity? A friend of mine showed me an article from wired.com that described consumers like me and 4G.

Tech consumers get turned on when they hear that a new Smartphone has 4G, but would not know if their phone had a 4G connection, or wouldn’t know if they were in a 4G area if it hit them smack dab in the face.  According to Wired.com,

 In-Stat, a market research firm, recently announced that 75 percent of more than 1,200 surveyed consumers listed 4G as one of the features that an “ideal” phone would include. The survey also found that most consumers don’t know which carrier offers the fastest 4G speed.

The quote above rather worries me because consumers are being advertised something that they have the right, and means to understand, but don’t. Cnet.com posted a chart of Metro PCS, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-mobile 4G coverage. The chart shows that if you are not with Verizon or T-mobile there is a good chance your city will not have 4G coverage in your area.

As a consumer this raises a question; Why am I being offered a product in my area where I could be paying more on my bill with no 4G connection available? The truth is that 4G is actually not fully developed yet and will not be for about a couple of years.

Would you believe that 34 percent of iPhone 4 users actually thought they had a 4G phone? Would you believe that a large part of people thought their 3G devices actually has 4G specs? This is very well indeed the truth. Around 34 percent of iPhone 4 consumers, including myself, suffered from consumer confusion by the iPhone “4″ name and Apples claims of having 4G-like speeds.

iPhone owners are not alone on this boat, and Blackberry is riding along with them as most their consumers believe their phone has 4G capabilities. Truthfully, no Blackberry handset now has 4G.

Are you one of the many people who want a 4G phone but never really understood the feature? On the other hand, are you one of the many to even buy an iPhone 4 or Blackberry and believe for some reason it had 4G connectivity? 

Original article and source here [ Wired.com ]
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Worsecase the Engineer

PR Director & Audio Engineer for GOS. Non-Gentleman, but yet a charmer to the ladies.

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  • Dakidog

    Well Rim isn’t trying to fool anyone they haven’t released any 4g phones yet…though I did see a commercial for a 4g Torch from some carrier believe it was AT&T that made me go wtf, but you’re right the wool is being pulled over everyones eye. I had a discussion about this with two of my friends and no carrier really has 4g speeds(this is 4g defined by the ITU), you can call it 3g boost or 3.5g lol. If any carrier was barking up the right tree it’d be Verizon but even they’re off…I’d bet on them to be truly 4g first though.

  • http://twitter.com/DarthDiggler Rich

    The problem is 4G is a marketing term with various flavors.  The BB Torch 9810 does have 4G, but I couldn’t tell you which version of it.  It is faster than 3G though (I own the phone).

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=522654580 Charles King

    I plan on owning a 4G phone in the future, but I never really understood the real difference between 4G and 3G besides 4G being able to hand video calls better (Is that true?). The phone I have right now (Droid -X) seems to have problems holding a signal, as it keeps switching between 3G and 1X, and we all know what that does to the battery. 

    It seems to me that 4G is more of a “work in progress” instead of an actual step-up from 3G. Carriers should advertise that they have 4G capable phones, and then provide it once it is ready to readily available and in working order.

    • Worsecase

      There is no factual evidence that 4G can handle video calls better, but it should be able to since the speed is slightly faster. The fact still remains that if your in a 4g covered area, your still not getting true 4G speeds. Another thing is that there is a problem with 4G users trying to use data in places that are not covered at all. 

      Your right, it is a work in progress, the rumor is that the 4G towers wont be finished until 2015-2016. By that time, reports show that only 5% of the U.S will have a 4G phone. As of now, only 43% of the U.S own a smartphone. 

  • Billy

    This is a weird post, it should be more put towards people who dont know if they have 4G rather than you saying 4G is useless because honestly i bought the samsung galaxy S2 wich is amazing BTW and i knew i didnt have 4G but of corse i want to be future ready and it feels you are trying to convince people not to look for 4G phones when in fact its not like a huge price change at all…..

    • Worsecase

      Sorry if you found this article offensive or bias, but this article primarily pertains to the U.S. I believe other places like U.K , Japan, Korea and even Canada from what I understand has better coverage and service…  

  • Billy

    Sorry i meant i know my phone has 4G but no 4G coverage in my area yet but who cares its not like we pay for 4G on our cell phone bills (in Canada anyways)

    • Worsecase

      Out here in America, some phone companies charge extra just for 4G connection.. my area doesn’t even have it with sprint and they change $10 extra just because of the technology which doesn’t even exist in our area.

  • http://www.facebook.com/charles.gilmorejr.1 Charles Gilmore

    dang thats a major eye opener

    • Worsecase

      Yessir! Thanks for the comment!

  • Death Note Killa

    I think I read that 4g was like super fast and modern day 4g is really a slightly fast 3g.

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