Here in the U.S., "4G" means nothing. It is a meaningless term. Once upon a time it may have meant something, but that was before the wireless carriers decided to redefine whatever networks they were running as "4G."
The crowning moment in U.S. 4G nonsense came when AT&T automagically transmogrified the iPhone into a "4G" phone by changing the icon at the top of the screen. The phone isn't faster than it was at "3G." It isn't running on a faster network. It's just "4G" now because they say so.
This is a shameful state of affairs, but there's little we can do about it other than to point out when we think the carriers are lying. It's also one of the reasons we run Fastest Mobile Networks, our 30-city test that just kicked off to show the real speeds of wireless networks, whether they're "3G" or "4G" or "OG" or whatever.
But the world isn't the United States - thank goodness. Some of the world has a much clearer idea of what "4G" is (usually it's LTE) and much of the world has things like "advertising standards" and "consumer protection."
Apple Can't Export the U.S. Model
Enter Apple's "4G" iPad. Apple wants to sell this as "4G" around the world because it doesn't want to have to make different boxes for different countries; it's a lot easier to just have one global package, and darn it, it's 4G somewhere.
Just as importantly, Apple is an American company, and it's been steeped in our culture of 4G meaninglessness. Remember, Apple didn't seem to think twice when AT&T asked to change the "4G" indicator on its iPhone. If Apple thought that would confuse users, it would have drawn a line there. It didn't. Clearly, the company thinks "4G" is a term without any actual content to it.
But the U.K. and Australia are different. The iPad doesn't work on Australia's 4G LTE network. The UK doesn't even have any networks considered 4G yet. So the governments in those countries are putting their feet down. The BBC reports today that the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority is widening its inquiry into iPad advertising. You shouldn't be able to advertise something as 4G that doesn't work on 4G in your country. Tiny footnotes at the bottom of ads won't cure this.
Apple, disturbingly, is trying to spread the American disease by telling Australian regulators that HSPA+ is 4G, following AT&T and T-Mobile USA's claims. But if Australia wants to set a higher bar, it should be allowed to. Customers will benefit from "4G" being used to define a clearly faster experience on a different physical network, LTE.
I applaud the U.K. and Australian advertising and consumer protection authorities for standing up for consumers against this wireless nonsense. Maybe the U.S. is a lost cause when it comes to designating what the heck "4G" means. But hopefully that particular plague can stop at our borders.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the new iPad and the slideshow above.
