4G fog thickens as AT&T upgrades vocabulary–A Response

In Saturday’s Washington Post posting entitled “4G fog thickens as AT&T upgrades vocabulary”, Rob Pegoraro speaks about marketplace confusion with the term “4G”.

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In a comment posted with that article, I offered my own thoughts…..
Rob,

From my point of view, AT&T’s “4g” announcement is really a capitulation of the marketplace. The “deal was sealed” when tMobile began to call its HSPA+ network “4G”and few in the media called them on it.

What is getting lost in all of this is a fundamental question. 4G, 3G what does it matter what it is called. The real question is, “What network provides the best environment to accomplish a persons goals?”

It seems to me that AT&T has embarked on a pathway that is focused on an ecosystem of networks, devices and support that are enablers of people doing what they need to do. Something that often gets lost in the shuffle is the wifi network that AT&T has deployed and continues to deploy. They maintain the largest wifi service included in the cost of their data plans and this is available right now with many at&t devices including all of the iPhones, android, windows7 and many Blackberry models.

This means that more people with more devices have access to a network that allows them the ability to get more done faster and without a need to upgrade or change their device. As the deployment of HSPA+ AND LTE continues, the device mix will continue to evolve. However, if you are with AT&T many of your present devices will be able to take advantage of faster access speed and unlike Verizon (or tMobile, Sprint, etc.) can be accessed with many, many devices currently available like the existing 3G iPad.

So all in all, I say AT&T has the best and most consumer friendly strategy. They may be a bit slower in rolling out a specific technology, but they are in the active midst of creating the best overall network experience that will become clearer and clearer as time goes on.

#attemp #4G