Three new products scheduled to arrive later this summer on AT&T’s network underscore just how complicated a marketing strategy the carrier is attempting to pull off when it comes to “4G” networking speeds, and how the potential for confusion is enormous.
Consider the two mobile broadband access cards launched by AT&T Tuesday: the USBConnect Momentum 4G and the Mobile Hotspot Elevate 4G. Note the terminology attached to those products: “4G.”
Now check out the separately announced HP TouchPad 4G, which is scheduled to arrive in AT&T (NYSE: T) stores with a mobile broadband connection of its own in addition to Wi-Fi. Note the brand name: the TouchPad 4G.
Seems like we’re talking about the same network, right? Nope. The Momentum 4G and Elevate 4G run on AT&T’s LTE network, which is capable of far faster speeds than the network used by the TouchPad 4G, AT&T’s HSPA+ network. AT&T’s LTE network is just starting to roll out in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, while its HSPA+ network is available in more areas. And, of course, AT&T’s HSPA+ network only works at those “4G” speeds when AT&T has done the “enhanced backhaul” work that prevented several Motorola Atrix devices from hitting their advertised speeds earlier this year.
This sentence was actually included in the press release: “With plug-and-play installation that takes about 60 seconds to complete on Windows computers, AT&T USBConnect Momentum 4G customers can access 4G LTE speeds, where available, and when out of range have access to AT&T’s nationwide HSPA+ network, delivering 4G speeds when combined with enhanced backhaul.” Sounds like you’d get the same “4G” speeds either way, right, since they are both described as 4G?
Nope. AT&T’s LTE network actually runs much faster than its HSPA+ network, according to tests carried out earlier this year by GigaOm. Wireless networking speeds are notoriously flaky and can vary greatly even in the same testing environment, but GigaOm recorded LTE download speeds of 28.8Mbps, while AT&T says its HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul can hit 6Mbps.
This really isn’t anything new, and AT&T is hardly the only carrier playing games with the definition of 4G. But it continues to sell different products that connect to different networks at different speeds using the same easy-to-remember term for all of them.
In fact, confusion already reigns over 4G: one-third of iPhone owners already think they have a 4G iPhone (which doesn’t exist), according to a study released Tuesday by Retrevo, and the numbers are similar for Android and BlackBerry owners. Make sure you do your homework before buying anything with a 4G tag this year, because the speed you expect and the speed that you get may be two very different things.

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