Verizon advertises 4G service, but doesn’t meet real standards
Verizon advertises 4G service, but doesn’t meet real standards
TEXT OF STORY
JEREMY HOBSON: Verizon is going to roll out its new, faster wireless network on Sunday. It’s called 4G. Only thing is, it’s not technically 4G according to the United Nations agency that sets the global standards for these things.
Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall Genzer has more.
AMBIENT OF VERIZON COMMERCIAL: Lightning fast. Verizon 4G LTE.
NANCY MARSHALL GENZER: Verizon advertises its version of 4G service as a bolt of lightning. But compared to true 4G, it’s more like a sparkler. The UN has strict technical standards for a 4G network. Verizon doesn’t meet them. Neither do any of the other wireless carriers advertising 4G. Charles Golvin is a tech analyst with Forrester Research. He says it’s all about marketing.
CHARLES GOLVIN: Using the term 4G as really a marketing term that means some kind of better service than what you get on 3G today.
Verizon says it doesn’t matter what you call its new service. It’s still a lot faster than 3G. Lindsay Notwell is in charge of marketing new Verizon technology. He says the new network will let you download things up to ten times faster.
LINDSAY NOTWELL: Twenty pictures in a minute as opposed to 20 pictures in ten minutes.
If you’re thinking about holding out for the real 4G, don’t. It won’t be available until late in the next decade.
In Washington, I’m Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.
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