Comments on: First commercial 4G base station being tested in Sweden

Swedish mobile operator is among those building next-generation networks for mobile broadband with 4G technology--a concept some observers have criticized.

[MadLyb]

The providers haven't even completed rollout of 3G and even where deployed, the performance is mediocre at best because they don't have the infrastructure to provide the throughput.

So, 4G will be just more promises broken. 60 Mbps? I'll be happy if they finally get to broadband speeds.

[gerrrg]

Today's 3G networks achieve 6 Mbps? Really? I'd love to see where that actually, real-world, happens.

Running my G1 on 3G (albeit on UMTS) is only 714 Kbps in real-world test.

And, I thought WiMax was 4G? No? All technologies talk up about how fast their POTENTIAL is, but the reality is quite different.

[ikramerica--2008]

Houston? Two years ago, I got my Mom an ATT 3G card and, when I could get reception, it ran 5Mbps (which is 6Mbps - overhead). But she couldn't get consistent reception in her house, and it kept dropping down to EDGE. Down the street at the ATT store, it was high speed. But we had to return it.

So, I've seen what 3G can do when it works. The problem is that the reception is spotty (even for others than ATT) and when the "3G" symbol pops up, it does NOT mean you are getting FULL 3G speed, only that you are on the 3G network rather than the slower 2G data network of your carrier.

The 700MHz spectrum may really help here, as it has much stronger penetration and fewer signal interruptions.

[yada88]

The title to this article is incorrect. Clearwire in the US has already rolled out WiMax in Baltimore and Portland. WiMax is 4G. The title should have read "First commercial LTE", anyone living in Baltimore, MD can already get 4G access, without having to wait for a 2010 roll-out.

[jayridius]

I believe Sweden is rolling out its LTE network in the 2.6 GHz band as are other European countries and not 3.6 GHz as the article states.

And while LTE technology is capable of speeds over 100 MBps on the dowlnink, I dont think that it can't offer that type of speed or even the 60 or 80 MBps claimed, to its subscriber base. Recently, a PC Mag article stated that Verizon's LTE network in 700 MHz would offer between 8-12 Mbps. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347797,00.asp While it doesn't state outright, this should be average and not peak speeds. Clearwire's WiMAX claims average speeds of 4-6 Mbps and peaks up to 11 Mbps. In any case, these are much faster than current 3G mobile technologies.