Luckily the telecoms, as some of the biggest lobbies in the entire world, will no doubt pull the strings of their D.C. marionettes and we’ll see a “national broadband plan” that will give all sorts of tax breaks, incentives and rights to carriers willing to build out 4g networks, minimizing their capex.

As you observe, the ITU’s 4G standards rollback of 12/6/10 is partly to blame for allowing purveyors of these interim versions to call their services “4G.” In addition, when carriers like Verizon run ad campaigns on 4G in tandem with launching their iPhone, people will naturally assume (as I’m sure Verizon’s marketing department intended) that the two are linked. They’re not. Most smart phone traffic, including Verizon’s and other carriers’, runs on 3G and will continue to do so for some time. Given mobile operators’ heavy investment in spectrum and infrastructure (including the mad rush to boost cell site and backhaul capacity following 2009′s network smart phone-driven outages), many speculate they have yet to make their first nickel on 3G. Even though 4G’s flat architecture promises reduced costs and greater efficiencies, it, too, will require $billions more in capex.

So don’t hold your breath on pervasive 4G networks. Service providers first need to step up from “network optimization” mode and figure out how to monetize the network. A bit more detail here: http://crawfordpr.com/2011/01/12/telecom-pr-just-what-is-4g-anyway/