4G Is Key To An Ultra-Broadband Mobile Experience

Is 4G about improving the performance of today’s mobile networks, or is it about revolutionizing the model to create a truly ultra-broadband mobile experience?

The current dialogue is focused on improvement, notably how to improve the capacity of the cellular infrastructure via such 3G technology iterations as HSDPA/HSUPA and CDMA 1xEV-DO Rev A, or such revolutionary 4G technologies as mobile WiMAX 802.16e and LTE.

But simply improving the capacity of 2G networks will not be enough to create the kind of network experience the hyperconnected world expects (see my blog for more details on hyperconnectivity). In order to mobilize the Internet, we need to look not just at capacity but at the experience that the current mobile network has, thus far, not been designed to deliver. Once we do that, it quickly becomes clear that achieving true Internet mobilization will require more than just minor enhancements to the existing mobile network — hence the need for 4G.