4G isn’t yet an indispensable technology – and if you don’t really care about the speed your devices work at, or if you’re quite happy with the way they work, then it won’t make a blind bit of difference to you beyond the fact that at some point you’re going to have to get a new phone.
The benefits of 4G, though, certainly can’t be denied – it’s four time faster than 3G, which means you ought to be able to use your mobile device with the same agility that you use a home internet connection.
The major benefits of 4G come with downloads and an increased ability to do a lot of things all at the same time.
Effectively the transition should make your phone as capable of receiving the media and documents you use every day, no matter where you are.
If you want to get in on the ground floor of the 4G revolution, you’ll be able to find devices ready for the speed and deals that give you connectivity to it from all the major suppliers.
AT&T internet deals covering 4G abound across all mobile devices, including tablet PCs.
As yet the coverage is spotty, but it’s a safe bet that when it really gets off the ground you’ll be seeing much the same story as with 3G.
So if you get good 3G, you’ll get good 4G. If you don’t, you probably won’t.
There’s been a lot of talk about net access and speeds recently. The whole of the country suffers from something called a “digital divide”, behind which a stunning quantity of people (including families with children) either do not use, or have never used, the web.
And a vast number of people who don’t live close enough to proprietary stations (i.e. the places the cable comes from) to get the top speeds are subject to fluctuations in the quality of their net connection.
4G won’t make much difference to this part of the equation. Your AT&T internet deals on a 4G connection should give you the same experience as you had before, only faster.That, at least, is a sense in which the middle third (the people whose connection should be running at x speed but usually doesn’t) will see an improvement. The only question is, how much of an improvement will it be?
If everyone who gets great 3G moves up to great 4G, their mobile internet connections will give them four times more speed, opening up a whole new world of capabilities for them.
The people who get mediocre 3G, then, move up to mediocre 4G – which gives them more than they had with mid range 3G, but nowhere near what the fully fledged 4G users get.
Question: what is value? The value of increased speed to any net user is immediate and long lasting. But when that speed is not as good as someone who is paying the same monthly price, and who is on the same contract – what then?
Ultimately, the value judgement is the end user’s. Personally speaking, I’d be happy to take one of the new AT&T internet deals and see my mobile internet capabilities start working on a whole new level.