Do you need 4G?

[gorilla]

I know I want it, I know you want it, but do we actually need it on a day to day basis?
Let me quallify that question. I have fibre optic broadband at home that allows me to do all sorts of wonderful stuff on my PC, iPad and mobile phone. I don't think that I would replace my home broadband with 4G, therefore do I really need a 4G mobile data service?
The answer depends on what I want to do and what I might be able to do, but let's assume you could have 4G today how would it change your life?

My major gripe with 3G is signal penetration indoors and an ever apparent lack of capacity. I can do pretty much everything I need to over 3G (when I get it!) from watching TV, to making a video call, so the question is what benefits will I get from 4G?
Will 4G just ensure I can use mobile data when and how I want it without any silly restrictions on bandwidth?

What do you think, do you actually need it?

[Ben]

Will 4G just ensure I can use mobile data when and how I want it without any silly restrictions on bandwidth?

Oh no chance. Caps should go up, but I'll bet not by much!

Do we need 4G?

I think that question is hard to answer right now, because we don't know what will be 'invented' to take advantage of low latency, high bandwidth mobile connectivity when it arrives. Will consumer cloud computing finally take off, something akin to the Google Chromebook? VoIP may make massive gains, as everything is set to be packet switched instead of circuit switched as it is now. Even SMS could start to change.

I think you have a point WRT 3G and coverage. If everyone was blasting out 3G900 and running HSPA+ networks at 42Mbps then we'd probably have all we could need for a while longer. But perhaps 4G and bigger bandwidth caps will finally allow us to use mobile connections as if we were at home - liberalising us to access cloud based music and movies without even caring what type of network we're currently connected to.

For 4G to be successful it needs to be everywhere. 3G has been a coverage catastrophe IMHO, and it's only now, in its last throws, that it is becoming a worthwhile proposition.

[hecatae]

lucky gorilla lives in a fibre area, here I am, smack bang in the middle of Northampton Town and no fibre until 2015 at the earliest.

so is 4G needed, yes, as it would be quicker and easier to install than fibre, and fibre could be used for the backhaul to the gigabit connections, and then everybody could get rid of these landlines that they dont want or need

[Ben]

Good point; isn't the current BT rollout targeted at 60% of the population? That leaves quite a substantial chunk that LTE could provide meaningful primary home service to.

I'm amazed we got on the upgrade list tbh, though with speeds ranging from 1mbps to zero through my village it's fantastic we did. Not entirely sure how BT justifies the mass of work it took to get fibre to our cabinet, but hey ho!

Got my Openreach appointment today, actually - will report back on how it goes somewhere

[gorilla]

What's the story with 4G rollout, can this be achieved by using existing masts or will additional sites be required?

[Ben]

It's only a guess but I'd think they'll use as much existing infrastructure as possible? Perhaps some of the HSPA+ equipment already has an upgrade path to LTE. A lot of additional masts were built for 3G at 2100MHz, so I don't think any major buildout would be required. Of course, different frequencies behave differently, so existing masts won't always be in the optimal places.

[Hands0n]

I do think that LTE/4G will be the way to finally carpet bomb the UK with Internet connectivity at moderately high speeds.

Cable, even fibre, remains costly and difficult to deploy. New build homes and small estates are problematic for ISPs and CPs alike that rely upon, mostly, a single supplier, Openreach, to lay cable to the premises. How much more efficient for the new builds to simply "leech" service from one of the available LTE networks covering that particular area.

I do think that early LTE will transform over the years quite remarkably, similarly as 3G has over the years.

[3GScottishUser]

Most customers don't need 4G for the services currently available on mobiles but in time they might.

There will be demand for streaming services like iPlayer, Netflix and Love Film on portable devices deliverd by wireless networks but that will have to be deliverable on demand to everyone and current 3G can't do that in urban areas. 4G could perhaps but it will involve a lot of investment to build enough capacity to account for demand from not only mobile users but those choosing 4G rather than fixed line services which seem to be devoping slower than wireless alternatives presently.