As HSPA+, LTE, and WiMax continue their rollout across the country, cellular carriers’ marketing departments have been hard at work pushing the “4G” nomenclature even though said technologies aren’t truly “4G” according to the ITU’s definition. Well, that was then and this is now. Following the ITU’s December meeting and after many weeks of deliberations, the following changes were voiced in an official press release:
Following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that “LTE-Advanced” and “WirelessMAN-Advanced” should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as “4G”, although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed. The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012.
Basically, they’re saying that because the term “4G” was being marketed so heavily with no real chance of reversing any of the carrier’s claims or positions, it was they (the ITU) who had to change. From here on out, it looks like HSPA+, LTE, and WiMax will join LTE-Advanced and WiMax 2 as true 4G technologies under the new definitions.
Thoughts?
Source: ITU
Via: IntoMobile, PhoneArena
