4G – Pure Hype or Hope?

Friday May 6, 2011
Friday Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu


THE buzz word in the telecoms industry is 4G.

You cannot but notice the advertisements popping up claiming that 4G is here. It is a global phenomenon but some say operators are coining their own definitions for the term “4G'' as a marketing gimmick.

We have heard of 1G, 2G and 3G over the past two decades. The next is 4G and the flavour of the so-called 4G technology a new generation of radio upgrades is that it promises to improve the throughput and capacity of wireless phone networks.

Some weeks ago, a chief of a cellular company did ask if 4G was indeed here. He represents a 3G company, which is rival to the two companies now offering Wimax in the country. These two Wimax players claim their networks are 4G enabled.

The chief's cynicism can be understood and he is not alone to raise the question.

The view of the 3G players is that, they are able to deliver what the customers need today and when combined with LTE (long term evolution - which is the natural technology path from 3G) they can conquer the future.

Although the Wimax players had to go through some rough patches in trying to establish Wimax as a 4G technology “an effort is under way by leading Wimax and LTE suppliers and operators to provide a common framework for 4G coexistence.''

Experts claim the Wimax equipment market will reach US$6.9bil by 2014 and this is hardly a sign of a technology that is running out of steam and US-based Clearwire remains the biggest Wimax provider in the world,

It was YTL Communications that used the 4G word extensively at the launch of their “Yes” service last November. Rival Packet One Networks (P1) did not wait a second to rename theirs to 4G too. YTL claims that the speed it offers is three to five times faster than 3G.

So when YTL and P1 used the 4G word in November last year there was much buzz if Wimax was indeed in the 4G band.

Things have changed.

In early December the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) adopted a broader definition of “4G.” Among other things it said “all forerunners like Wimax can call themselves 4G.''

In essence, two of the technologies Wimax and LTE now counted as 4G are made of much of the same stuff.

All these technology lingo does not mean much to the consumer. He just wants what is promised by the provider, be it reliability of speed, capacity, coverage, quality and at a price which is reasonable.

The 4G networks may not be 100% mature and like any new technology, nothing is perfect, more so since choice of devices is still lacking.

But if the two players claim theirs is 4G and it meets ITU guidelines then 4G has arrived and if they are not transparent, the truth will be uncovered sooner rather than later.

There may be a lot of hype about 4G but this next generation technology is also hope for providers to take consumers on the next journey where the lifestyle demands will be more intense than in the 3G era.

So it would help if the licences for LTE were issued sooner rather than later. The eventual date for LTE spectrum assignment is Jan 1, 2013 and if this can be pushed a year ahead, it would help the market move faster and be in sync with other developed markets.

For any technology to mature, the consumer has a role too as mass adoption helps and we can begin by warming up to Facetime and Tango.

Deputy news editor B.K. Sidhu feels that operators should give all the speed that users want with the bandwidth and not throttle and spoilt the user experience they talk about.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/6/business/8629202&sec=business