Sprint has recently begun marketing its new phone service labeled "4G" -- a supposedly upgraded version of its previous 3G network. But before you run out and change your cell phone service provider to Sprint, you should realize that this new high-speed connection is really just for promotion's sake.
True 4G
Sprint's claims that it is the only "true 4G network" is a little misguided, in that no mobile phone service provider has anywhere close to an actual 4G network. According to the International Telecommunication Union, for a wireless network to be considered 4G, it has to have a download speed of about 100 mbps; even the fastest mobile broadband providers can only provide about 3 percent of this speed.
Sprint's "4G"
Because no mobile service provider actually has what the ITU defines as a 4G connection, Sprint's 4G service is nothing more than a marketing scheme -- a slightly improved version of their previous 3G connection. Ironically, the new 4G network that Sprint has been boasting required the installation of new equipment, drastically reducing the download and upload speed of the network in a number of suburban areas.
Sprint vs. T-Mobile
Despite Sprint's marketing campaign as the only company offering this "revolutionary" new high-speed network, their download and upload speeds were actually slower than those T-Mobile. The mobile phone resource company Phone Scoop conducted a number of tests on network speeds between the Sprint and T-Mobile networks. In over 300 tests, the two mobile phone networks averaged a similar download speed at slightly under 3 mbps, but T-Mobile's upload speed of 1.28 mbps easily outpaced Sprint's meager 588 kbps.
Tags: mobile phone, phone service, service provider, download speed, download upload
