Verizon Says It Won't Launch Fake 5G Icons Like AT&T Did (theverge.com) 54
Verizon and T-Mobile are calling out AT&T for starting a shady marketing tactic that labeled its 4G network as a 5G network. "In an open letter, in which AT&T is not named directly, Verizon says in part 'the potential to over-hype and under-deliver on the 5G promise is a temptation that the wireless industry must resist,'" reports TechCrunch. Meanwhile, T-Mobile directly called out AT&T, tweeting a short video of someone putting a sticky note reading "9G" on top of their iPhone's LTE icon. The Verge reports: The promise comes right as AT&T has started to roll out updates doing exactly that: changing the "LTE" icon in the corner of select phones into an icon reading "5G E." One might assume that a "5G E" connection is the same thing as a "5G" connection, but it's not. AT&T is just pretending that the faster portions of its LTE network are 5G and is trying to get a head start on the 5G marketing race by branding it "5G Evolution." T-Mobile isn't happy about the marketing nonsense either. Its CTO, Neville Ray, wrote that AT&T was "duping customers."
Verizon says it's "calling on the broad wireless industry to commit to labeling something 5G only if new device hardware is connecting to the network using new radio technology to deliver new capabilities" (emphasis Verizon's). Kyle Malady, Verizon's chief technical officer, says Verizon will lead by example and that "a clear, consistent, and simple understanding of 5G" is needed so consumers don't have to "maneuver through marketing double-speak or technical specifications." Malady says Verizon will "not call our 4G network a 5G network if customers don't experience a performance or capability upgrade that only 5G can deliver." But that isn't the same thing as saying "we won't label our network 5G unless it's 5G." In fact, if you turn that sentence into a positive statement, it says "we will only call our 4G network a 5G network if it delivers a 5G-like experience." The Verge notes that Verizon "has also been misleading about its jump into 5G." Last year, Big Red bragged about launching the "world's first commercial 5G service," even though "it wasn't mobile; it was home internet service that just happened to be delivered wirelessly during the final stretch to a subscriber's home; and it didn't use the global 5G standard -- it used a rival 5G standard created by Verizon."
Verizon says it's "calling on the broad wireless industry to commit to labeling something 5G only if new device hardware is connecting to the network using new radio technology to deliver new capabilities" (emphasis Verizon's). Kyle Malady, Verizon's chief technical officer, says Verizon will lead by example and that "a clear, consistent, and simple understanding of 5G" is needed so consumers don't have to "maneuver through marketing double-speak or technical specifications." Malady says Verizon will "not call our 4G network a 5G network if customers don't experience a performance or capability upgrade that only 5G can deliver." But that isn't the same thing as saying "we won't label our network 5G unless it's 5G." In fact, if you turn that sentence into a positive statement, it says "we will only call our 4G network a 5G network if it delivers a 5G-like experience." The Verge notes that Verizon "has also been misleading about its jump into 5G." Last year, Big Red bragged about launching the "world's first commercial 5G service," even though "it wasn't mobile; it was home internet service that just happened to be delivered wirelessly during the final stretch to a subscriber's home; and it didn't use the global 5G standard -- it used a rival 5G standard created by Verizon."
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Of course Verizon won't do it like AT&T, they'll wait and do it like T-Mobile.
T-Mo goes to 11
"5G" means nothing (Score:3)
the problem would be solved if we switched to a more meaningful terminology such as:
-LTE network
-2 Gbps cellular network
Re: "5G" means nothing (Score:1)
why not just have it show actual data throughput speed
1.8Md/.8Mu, for example.
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why not just have it show actual data throughput speed
1.8Md/.8Mu, for example.
Because that would show that you aren't reaching the peak advertised rates.
Sure it does (Score:2)
5G has a minimum speed specification which this doesn't meet.
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4G also had a minimum speed and even when I am stuck downloading at 10 Mbps they still call that network 4G
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Your download speed and the actual capabilities of your modem and tower under ideal conditions are not the same thing.
Also isn't 5G effectively IMT-2020 by definition and the whole idea of achieving the same speeds outside of the frequency range defined in IMT-2020 is the reason why 5G-NR has it's own name?
5G-NR may not have the same speed but it does share common capabilities with 5G (IMT-2020) as far as I understand it anyway. The same cannot be said for LTE-A Pro
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Your download speed and the actual capabilities of your modem and tower under ideal conditions are not the same thing.
LTE doesn't meet the original 4G criteria, LTE-A does. LTE is still universally considered 4G. This has nothing to do with less than optimal conditions.
Also isn't 5G effectively IMT-2020 by definition and the whole idea of achieving the same speeds outside of the frequency range defined in IMT-2020 is the reason why 5G-NR has it's own name?
Nope. 5G-NR is the technology/implementation. It's the successor to LTE.
There could have been various 5G competing technologies but it turns out only one will succeed. Unlike 4G which had Wimax and LTE and 3G which had CDMA2000 and UMTS. 4G was also vague and in the end even included
5G-NR may not have the same speed but it does share common capabilities with 5G (IMT-2020) as far as I understand it anyway. The same cannot be said for LTE-A Pro
Yes the same can be said for LTE-A. 5G-NR under 6 GHz will have no major ben
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Also 5G doesn't have a specification from what I understand. ITU IMT-2020 does. People confuse 5G, 5G NR and IMT-2020. They are three different things, with 5G being vague.
My prediction is that any 5G NR network will be called 5G even though it doesn't meet the IMT-2020 20 Gbps minimum speed criteria.
More specifically, any sub 6 GHz 5G NR network is going to have speeds very similar to LTE-A and will still be called 5G.
just waiting... (Score:2)
Vz will put the 5G Lite logo and call it good.
clearly false advertising (Score:4, Insightful)
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If we just had laws banning a thing named "fraud"... But then, a campaign donation makes you immune to such details.
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I don't want to hear another PEAP out of you.
Re:clearly false advertising (Score:5, Insightful)
That would be like selling "unlimited" service to someone, and then limiting it when they exceed a threshold. Or selling a "$40/mo" service, then adding fees which make it $60.
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They just said it enough that people either believed it or tuned it out. They were running non stop ads for their service, and glomming on to other ads for devices, with an obnoxious narration of "VERIZON 4G LTE". A single 30 second ad spot would have that phrase in it 4 or 5 times.
we need more non carrier roms (Score:2)
we need more non carrier roms
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"We won't lie to you in this particular way" (Score:1)
Marketing... (Score:3)
Clarification issued (Score:2)
Liars (Score:2)
Yet T-Mobile Kinda Did The Same Thing (Score:2)
Of course Verizon said they'd do the same thing if their 4G network performs like a 5G; and I guess you could call HSDPA a major impr
Not AT&T's first rodeo (Score:1)
They did this with 4G. Here's a quote from an article from 2012 [slate.com]:
The emptiness of 4G was highlighted last week, when people who installed the latest iPhone 4S operating system upgrade noticed something that seemed too good to be true: The network indicator on their phones began displaying “4G” rather than “3G.” This change occurred only for people who use AT&T’s cellular service; Verizon iPhone users who installed the upgrade still saw the 3G indicator. Some people took the
Verizon won't use 5G logo... (Score:2)
Obligatory Dilbert (Score:1)
Not the same thing (Score:2)
Not that actual logic is likely to make a difference, but... From the summary:
No, that positive statement is not t