What LTE Means for Consumers

You may have seen or heard of LTE by now, but not quite sure what the term means. But look no further, because you’ve found the right place to find the answer to, “What is LTE?”. LTE is also known as “4G”, which is a faster medium for mobile connectivity through your smartphone. LTE is an acronym for Long Term Evolution network. LTE is the successor to what many smartphone owners know as “3G”. LTE is the technology that Verizon Wireless has adopted as its 4G network. Now while 4G has been officially defined according to the FCC’s specifications, the regulations to market 4G have been enforced very little, and as a result, wireless carriers such as AT&T use the term 4G as a marketing term for their HSPA+ network, which is faster than 3G, but cannot match the speeds that an LTE network could offer. LTE by definition, and theoretical maximum speeds, is within the FCC’s guidelines for 4G. Verizon has taken the time and effort to expand their LTE network to more than 50 cities in the past year, putting 4G on the map for many consumers. Meanwhile, AT&T tries to market their HSPA+ network as 4G, but is not meeting the FCC’s guidelines, and T-Mobile is doing the same marketing sin. Sprint is currently using a different technology, known as Wi-Max, to market as 4G, which is much closer to the FCC’s guidelines than AT&T or T-Mobile. However, Sprint has recently announced plans to completely switch to an LTE based 4G network by 2013. This means that Sprint users would be able to take advantage of really an amazing technology, which will provide them higher data speeds, than Wi-Max, or AT&T’s HSPA+. AT&T is already building out an LTE network as well, but is doing so much more slowly than Verizon, which seems to be launching LTE much more rapidly than AT&T, which has experimental LTE in only a few cities. The benefits of an LTE network may not exactly be clear to you at this point. LTE is a major upgrade over an existing 3G network that all carriers provide. 3G is very limited in bandwidth, compared to LTE, which will make any consumer’s experience much smoother and much faster. The most bandwidth intensive activities, such as streaming a movie off of Netflix on your phone and tablet, will become a notably smoother experience for consumers. The LTE network that Verizon is implementing and Sprint will soon be, will address some of the issues of a traditional 3G data network, such as spotty coverage, and low data speeds. So now that I’ve demonstrated some of the advantages of LTE over 3G or HSPA+, the question must be wondering in your mind. “Why isn’t LTE everywhere?” Unfortunately, the wireless carriers don’t find enough reason to launch their LTE networks at a faster pace. Although Verizon could be the one exception to this statement, since they have been doing a decent job of introducing LTE into new markets. Sprint can’t rush out of their contract with Wi-Max, and really they don’t see a need to, and AT&T is, for whatever reason, not motivated to rapidly launch LTE. I hope AT&T and Sprint are taking notes from Verizon’s 4G launch. There is one other problem with what the carriers are doing, with Sprint being an exception. AT&T and Verizon have introduced data caps on both their 3G and 4G networks. That translates into overage charges for consumers who pass the 2 gigabyte or 5 gigabyte data cap, depending on the carrier. Sprint still offers an unlimited data plan on 3G and 4G, but their CFO was quoted saying that Sprint will continue to offer unlimited data for as long as it’s financially feasible. My concern is that LTE will provide customers with high amounts of bandwidth, but they will not be able to take advantage of those high speeds because of the implemented data caps on Verizon and AT&T. But despite all the potential and current problems with the carriers' policies and LTE implementations, the switch to LTE will ultimately allow consumers to be connected anywhere, hassle free. And since every wireless carrier is actively bringing forward LTE to market, we can expect LTE to arrive in most major U.S cities by the end of 2012.

Dear wireless carriers, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop putting junk on your smartphones?

One of my biggest problems with wireless carriers in the U.S today is that they put OEM or pre-installed carrier software on smartphones. "Sprint Football and Sprint TV" just to name a few. I don't want it nor do I use them at all! They take up unnecessary space on my smartphone.

The unfortunate thing is that nobody has the will or power to stop this crud from being installed on smartphones. For example, your Android device may already have some carrier junk loaded up on it and the smartphone manufacturer or platform maker (i.e. Google) has no power to stop the wireless carriers from doing so. If all the smartphone platform makers and device manufacturers would just step up to the plate and tell the carriers that we don't want this on our phones, then this wouldn't be an issue in the first place! That's simply a fantasy though, because most corporations are in it exclusively for the profit. They simply don't care if you're not happy with their device or their platform, they'll continue to make money while not listening to consumers' complaints. Even supposing they did care, they simply don't have the power to overcome the strict policies of the wireless carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint!

Even if some of the wireless carriers' pre-installed applications and software was of any interest to me, or to other consumers, the applications are unreliable and poorly developed!

I represent myself and consumers from personal experience. I've attempted at using Sprint Football and Sprint TV. First off, the app can't run over Wi-Fi. A 3G data connection is required, and second, the content in the apps mentioned above is so mediocre, that I don't even use it at all. Not to mention that those apps seem to crash on most Android devices I've seen and played with. Besides the fact, I would still prefer to get content from my PC, or from the Internet. Sources like ESPN for sports and Hulu and Netflix for shows and movies means that I'll never discover a need for the wireless carriers' apps.

Bottom line, wireless carriers should simply stop shipping their smartphones with these pre-installed applications.

This AT&T and T-Mobile deal is deadly to the industry!

On Sunday, AT&T confirmed that they've struck a deal with Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock (T-Mobile will get 8% stock in AT&T) to acquire T-Mobile USA. And already, the industry is buzzing over this and speculating what that means for T-Mobile customers and what it could possibly mean for both AT&T and T-Mobile's future. This deal honestly makes me extremely disappointed because T-Mobile will no longer become competitive because possibly, the deal will be approved by the FCC & FTC.

Of course, if the FCC or the FTC doesn't approve the deal, then T-Mobile and AT&T will be bitterly disappointed, but consumers and T-Mobile customers to be specific, will be very pleased! I'm one of those concerned that this deal will damage T-Mobile's reputation greatly and will be less compelling to consumers. Since T-Mobile in its current state, has competitively priced voice & data plans compared to Verizon and AT&T. Although T-Mobile doesn't have the greatest selection of devices to choose from, it has competitively priced service and has decent coverage in areas where AT&T or Verizon performs poorly.

So if AT&T takes over, it's like AT&T times two! Double monopolies are really dangerous to a recovering economy here in the United States! Let's hope that FCC deems this acquisition to be monopolistic and either block the acquisition altogether, or put major limits on AT&T.

Either way, I'm not going to be happy with the outcome!