At first, the names of cities that had access to LTE – the next generation of cellular connectivity – was short enough to recite. Those days are gone. If you don’t have access to 4G — which provides connectivity to mobile devices at about cable modem speed — just sit tight. It’s coming.
In many cases, you will have a choice of providers. Check out this piece at DSL Reports and the links it contains to studies of the comparative quality of the major providers.
I’ve spoken to firms that have done this type of research. They tell an interesting story. The bottom line is that there is a lot of variation between 4G networks from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and the others. In addition to speed differences, there is reliability – which is controlled to a great extent by the quality of the backhaul services from tower to central office — coverage and, essentially, all the things that you normally would assess in choosing a carrier. Also, the carrier with the fastest downloads don’t automatically offer the fastest uploads.
The bottom line is that the carriers are getting better at rolling things out quickly. The move from 3G to 4G was more a software upgrade than an equipment change out, so the transition is pretty quickly. Folks who use LTE for business likely have, or soon will have, choices. The best advice is to explore as many options as possible.
