4G wireless - the hype demystified

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 17 July 2007 01:26

Opinion and Analysis

If anyone tells you today they have 4G wireless, it's marketing hype. 4G has yet to be defined yet alone realised, but the ITU is getting close to a definition and this white paper from 3G Americas provides a useful summary of the progress and plans going forward.


The paper opens with the statement: "The communications industry is witnessing significant posturing about wireless technologies and systems that are claiming to be '4G'. Any claim that a particular technology is a 4G technology or system today is, in reality, simply a market positioning statement by the respective technology advocate. Such claims must be verified and substantiated against a set of requirements in order to qualify as 4G."

It goes on to explain: "The International Telecommunications (sic -it's Telecommunication, actually) Union (ITU) is the internationally recognised entity chartered to produce an official definition of the next generation of wireless technologies. Its Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is establishing an agreed and globally accepted definition of 4G wireless systems that is inclusive of the current multi-dimensioned and diverse stakeholder universe. The ITU is close to releasing a full set of documentation for this definition...In early 2008, ITU-R will translate the vision and framework of this effort into a set of requirements by which technologies and systems can, in the near future, be determined a part of IMT- Advanced and in doing so, earn the right to be considered 4G.

However it is likely to be 2010 at the earliest before any radio technology will earn the ITU-sanctioned right to call itself 4G. "During 2008 and 2009, ITU-R will hold an open call for 4G (IMT-Advanced) candidates as well as an assessment of those candidates' technologies and systems. The culmination of this open process will be a 4G, or IMT-Advanced family," the white paper says. "Such a 4G family, in adherence to the principles defined for acceptance into this process, is globally recognised to be one which can grow to include all aspects of a marketplace that will arrive beyond 2010, thus complementing and building upon an expanding and maturing 3G business."

Adding to all the confusion is the penchant for vendors and operators to boast about '2.5G' and '3.5G' technologies. The White Paper has a view on this, also. "The definition of what comprises a "generation" manifests only after particular technologies enjoy deployments in major marketplaces globally. This is currently occurring for 3G technologies, and will certainly happen for 4G as well. As a defined generation of wireless, 4G is therefore only in its adolescence."

In other words, only when it has truly arrived and been widely deployed will it be recognised as a new generation of wireless technology. So remember that next time you hear the claim of '4G'.

The white paper is available free from 3G Americas here.