Proposed Bill to Require Carriers to Define 4G

Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal, all Democrats, introduced a bill Wednesday that would require carriers to disclose details about services and products marketed as 4G, including guaranteed minimum data speed, network reliability, and conditions that may affect the speed of applications and services.

If passed, it would also mandate the Federal Communications Commission to evaluate the speed of 4G service for the top ten wireless carriers in the U.S.

In an era when one in five phones sold is labeled 4G and carriers are scrambling to build or expand 4G networks, this step by federal regulators may slow down an industry that is defined by speed.

"This bill proposes to add an additional layer of regulation to a new and exciting set of services, while ignoring the fact that wireless is an inherently complex and dynamic environment in which network speeds can vary depending on a wide variety factors, such as weather, terrain and foliage", said Jot Carpenter from wireless trade association CTIA.

Carriers are working to increase network speed and capacity to feed increasingly data-hungry devices customers demand. They are expected to lobby against the proposed bill, as it may add complexity to the already-difficult job of building faster network infrastructure, introducing more advanced devices and marketing them to consumers.

Among the top three U.S. carriers, Verizon has the most extensive 4G coverage, spanning about half the U.S.

AT&T started 4G rollout last month and is expected to push its first 4G LTE handset to market later this year. Sprint also plans a 4G LTE launch in 2012.

True 4G, originally defined as speeds of 100mbps or greater, is still a rarity in many areas, despite what carriers say in their ads. The 4G label is placed on many networks, such as HSPA+, WiMAX, and LTE, although the general public may not understand exactly what these acronyms mean or what speeds they can expect their devices to achieve.

"Wireless providers need to make sure their customers can count on the speed, reliability, and the price they were promised when they signed up", Senator Franken explained. "And if they can't fulfill their promise, they need to be held accountable".

As the 4G race heats up and more smartphones and tablets come to market that require widespread, speedy network coverage, carriers may find themselves retooling marketing strategies to comply with Federal regulations.