What is "4G"?

4G is the term used to refer to the next wave of high-speed mobile technologies that will be used to
replace current 3G networks. The two top contenders are LTE and WiMAX, both of which are IP
based networks that are built from similar, yet incompatible, technologies. Sprint and Clearwire are
currently offering 4G WiMAX service in the USA, while Verizon and AT&T have committed to the
use of LTE and are trialing their own 4G networks.

Also known as: "fourth generation"
What is "WiMAX"?
WiMAX is a wireless technology put forth by the WiMAX Forum that is one of the technologies that
is being used for 4G networks. It can be used in both point to point and the typical WAN type
configurations that are also used by 2G and 3G mobile network carriers. Its formal name is IEEE
standard 802.16. Sprint owns a WiMAX based network that is marketed under the name XOHM,
though that will eventually be merged with Clearwire's network and sold under the Clearwire name.
LTE is a competing technology that has the support of far more carriers worldwide.
Also known as: "802.16"

What is "IP"?
IP is the the protocol used in most publicly accessible networks today. It was developed for use on the
internet, which forms the basis for its name: Internet Protocol. Connections that mobile devices make
to GPRS, 3G, or similar data networks are made using IP.
Also known as: "Internet Protocol"

What is "LTE"?
LTE, short for Long Term Evolution, is considered by many to be the obvious successor to the current
generation of UMTS 3G technology, which is based upon WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, and HSPA.
LTE is not a replacement for UMTS in the way that UMTS was a replacement for GSM, but rather an
update to the UMTS technology that will enable it to provide significantly faster data rates for both
uploading and downloading. Verizon Wireless was the first U.S. carrier to widely deploy LTE, though
MetroPCS and AT&T have also done so, and Sprint and T-Mobile USA both have plans for LTE. In
fact, Sprint is phasing out its WiMAX network in favor of LTE. Verizon Wireless and AT&T
currently have incompatible LTE networks, even though they both make use of 700MHz spectrum.
AT&T and Verizon Wireless LTE customers often see download speeds that exceed 15Mbps, and
upload speeds in the 10Mbps range.
Also known as: "Long Term Evolution"


Advantages of LTE
1. LTE facilitates the current applications to perform on better speed as well as for the new
mobile applications
2. LTE decrease the traffic of communication in term of sending data.
3. LTE allows more users to use the same frequency that result in increasing of Mobile
Broadband users.
4. LTE separates frequencies into different channel in order to protect the disturbance of each
channel; the solution was called "Orthogonal".
5. LTE offers faster data rate transfer as compare to existing 3G network equipments by using
radio waves over the same bandwidth.
6. LTE supports more data capacity because it focuses on VoIP(Voice Over Internet Protocol).
7. LTE allows wireless broadband providers to transition to this new technology without
rebuilding their entire networks from the ground up.
8. LTE can also support voice and Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging using existing
networks via Generic Access (VoLGA).
Disadvantages of LTE
1. The start-up costs of service providers and consumers for equipment upgrades are too high;
new equipments will be needed to be installed.
2. LTE technology need to use additional antennas at network base stations for data
transmission. As a result to the network upgrades users need to buy new cell phones to make
use of new network infrastructure.