With all the frustration over 3G networks unable to handle the traffic generated by the iPhone, not to mention the slew of Google Android devices now in the works, pinning your hopes on a 4G network is understandable. Sprint, in particular, is playing off these aspirations, advertising 4G networks, while several handset manufacturers are claiming to offer 4G devices as well.

Not only does 4G not exist, but when it does come along several years from now, it won’t solve many of the issues that plague users, such as spectrum shortage and lack of device portability across carriers.

Despite not yet existing, 4G is cropping up increasingly in advertisements. But what carriers such as Sprint mean by the term is the high-speed WiMax wireless data service that it and its partner Clearwire are deploying in dozens of U.S. cities. Other carriers are slapping the 4G label on a 3G-based technology, LTE, an extension of the top-speed HSPA 3G technology that carriers are only now starting to deploy and one that has not yet been fully standardized. [Read more...]