Officially recognised as a candidate system for the 4G network, LTE is an advanced standard for mobile communications. Unfortunately, advanced does not always mean better, as mobile phone users in the United States are set to discover when Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS and AT&T deploy the latest 4G LTE system. Indeed, phones produced by these firms are unlikely to be compatible with rival networks.
Unlike Europe, where the 3G (and soon 4G) network is available in the same frequency bands so that customers can easily switch providers without having to replace their phones, US customers are facing up to the reality of a much less competitive market.
Earlier this year, Verizon Wireless announced that its LTE phones are unlikely to be compatible on the networks operated by AT&T or MetroPCS because each firm will use a different frequency. While virtually guaranteeing a headache for consumers, the news implies that the three major telecommunications and internet service providerswill not compete against each other on a fair playing field when the latest generation of phones is released.
Though AT&T and Verizon Wireless both operate in the 700MHZ band, the former will run mainly in the 704-746MHZ band, while the latter will operate predominantly between 746MHZ and 787MHZ. MetroPCS, meanwhile, operates its LTE network in the 1700MHZ band. Verizon Wireless already owns a slice of the 1700MHZ spectrum, while AT&T has hinted at buying frequency in the band. Having three major telecommunications providers lock out specific ranges of the wireless spectrum for exclusive use is bad news for customers.
In Europe, internet service providers are bound by far-reaching anti-competition laws, which require the mobile market to act in a way that benefits consumers. Mobile companies cannot, for instance, collude among themselves with the aim of fixing prices or nudging out rival firms. Similar laws exist across the Atlantic, but it would appear that the US government does not view the actions of Verizon Wireless and AT&T as anti-competitive, even though customers for either firm would be locked into deals with only limited scope for switching suppliers.
If, for example, a Verizon Wireless customer buys the latest Verizon LTE phone to be used on the Verizon LTE 746-787MHZ network, he might be disappointed to find that his phone does not work on AT&T’s 704-746MHZ network – especially if prices offered by AT&T fall significantly. Indeed, an anti-competitive market can expect prices to fluctuate between two or more firms on a regular basis as customers are shared evenly. A truly competitive mobile market would ensure that either all phones use the same network frequency band, or that all phones are compatible with all frequencies. Unfortunately, the latter is difficult to achieve.
The nature of technological evolution is such that most technologies are rapidly phased out or replaced by improvements. Just as mobile communications are slowly moving from 3G to 4G, analogue has been superseded by digital and dial-up has been replaced by fibre-optic broadband. Change is inevitable, but keeping up with change is not always possible. Mobile-phone networks cannot be realistically confined to a single spectrum and it is not necessarily ideal for mobile phones to be compatible with all bands.
The problem is that an abundance of applications for new LTE bands has been accepted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). These new bands range from 700MHZ to at least 2600MHZ. Existing mobile antennae cannot be expected to receive and transmit data at 700MHZ, 850MHZ, 1833MHZ, 2034MHZ and so on. The issue is one of size. A typical mobile antenna is crammed into a very small space inside a phone. Although smart phones have promoted a return to relatively large phones, modern devices are still fairly small. It is arguably the case that even less room is afforded to the antenna these days as smart phones require greater computing hardware. Another problem is that more powerful antennae require more power, meaning batteries either increase in size or decrease in longevity.
So the decision by Verizon Wireless and AT&T – among others – to operate on different frequencies is by no means ideal for customers, who may feel that they are locked into deals. Technology has not yet advanced sufficiently to ensure compatibility across the wireless spectrum. Mobile phones are not truly global, just as major telecommunication firms are not necessarily entirely competitive.
