4G for Beginners

You’ve probably heard of 4G but what does it really mean and how will it affect your life?

To put it simply, 4G is the name for the Fourth Generation of communication standards. It’s quickly replacing 3G as a superior alternative.

You may also have heard of ‘LTE’, a word often used in conjunction with ‘4G’. LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is a true 4G technology. LTE distinguishes 4G from the slightly slower HSDPA+ which is actually a fast version of 3G but has been marketed as 4G by certain US mobile providers, causing a lot of confusion.

4G LTE arrived in the UK in October 2012. EE was the first network provider to offer the technology but since then it has rapidly increased in popularity as the four main service providers now race to provide 98% nationwide coverage.

4G is around five times faster than most standard 3G services. In theory you can get speeds of up to 100Mbps but in reality you’re looking at no more than about 60Mbps at best.

To benefit from 4G you’ll not only need 4G coverage but you’ll also need a 4G ready phone. Most new phones produced over the last year and a half come 4G ready. To discover if your specific handset is 4G ready simply view the phone’s specifications on your network provider’s website. Usually ‘LTE’ will be listed in the ‘connectivity’ or similar section.

The reason some phones have it and some phones don’t is because 4G travels on a different frequency to that of 3G. Older phones often do not have a built-in receiver that accept the 4G frequency so essentially it’s a hardware issue.

One you have the right hardware you only need a service to provide 4G. Some people think they need a new SIM card. It’s not true. If your old SIM fits into your new 4G device you shouldn’t have any problems – simply call up your provider and ask them to upgrade you to a 4G plan if that’s something they offer. If your old SIM doesn’t physically fit you’ll either need a new SIM or if you fancy a bit of DIY you might be able to trim your old SIM down.

EE (Everything Everywhere) were the UK’s first network to provide 4G. Since then all of the UK’s other major networks have also started rolling out the super-fast mobile internet technology.

However if you are using a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) then you could still be waiting a while before you can enjoy 4G. The reason is that MVNOs bulk buy network service from the main mobile carriers and then resell it at what is often a competitive price mark. MVNOs are sometime less stable than more established providers so its’ worth doing your research to discover how to choose the best MVNO.

As things stand now, it seems most main carriers are refusing to sell 4G to their MVNO partners, probably because it’s more profitable for them to keep it exclusive to themselves. But this isn’t the case for all UK MVNOs.

If you want to jump on the 4G bandwagon Comparisim.com is a great little site you can use to compare mobile SIM only contracts from all of the UK’s providers and MVNOs using an interactive comparison table. There’s an ‘Internet speed’ drop-down filter on the site which if set to ‘4G’ will provide an up-to-date list of SIM only plans from the UK’s 4G providers and MVNOs.

If you’re not sure whether you want a 4G SIM only contract or 4G mobile phone contract? There’s no absolute cheapest option. This article suggests that SIM only is cheaper but not by much so it depends on whether you want a new phone or not. Here’s another good reference on the subject.

But what does 4G mean in practice? Well, faster internet speeds mean websites load quicker, and that you’ll be able to stream videos and music without waiting for them to load first. Basically you’ll have home-broadband speed internet (or faster) on your mobile phone, when you’re not at home.

Britain was late to adopt 4G technology in comparison to the rest of the world. But that doesn’t mean that Brits can use 4G when their abroad. The reason is that 4G doesn’t operate on the same frequency between from country to country.

In fact there is very little consistency between frequencies both nationally and internationally. Even when, in the rare case, where the numbers do match, your network would need to have a roaming agreement in place with a local provider in the country you are visiting. Right now there are very few, if any agreements in place so you can expect to be chugging along on good old 3G when out of the country. Below is a table of UK mobile frequencies:

UK mobile frequency bands

Technology	Frequency spectrum (UK)
3G	850MHz	900MHz	1900MHz	2100MHz
4G	800MHz	1800MHz	2600MHz
Wi-Fi	2400MHz	5000MHz
Bluetooth	2400MHz

Ofcom the UK’s independent regulator has set a requirement that 98 percent of the UK must have 4G coverage by the end of 2017.

Not all providers are being transparent with their current nationwide percentage of coverage. Thankfully Root Metrics did a complete 4G coverage test in March 2014 assessing each of the main networks. You can see the results below:

Right now Tesco and Three are offering 4G as standard with all their SIM only deals and mobile phone contracts while other providers are charging extra for it. Although prices have certainly come down since I wrote about this last time, almost a year ago.

We predict that all UK networks will eventually follow Three and Tesco’s lead by giving it away at no additional cost.

4G for Beginners