Clearwire, Comcast Sprint to Launch 4G in Six New Markets Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Texas, North Carolina Hawaii to Get 4G In Q4 2009

I wonder if we will ever be satisfied with transfer and data speeds.
Will there come a time when we ll say that we simply don t need the next
G? Don t get me wrong, right now we desperately need the next data
transfer standard. But while some manufacturers are already testing out
4G speeds like LTE and WiMAX, the vast majority of us will settle for
nationwide dependable 3G connectivity before we start dreaming about the
next level.

Clearwire, Comcast and Sprint are three important names in the
communications business. The three companies are going to work together
on various levels to bring 4G connectivity in six U.S. states during the
last quarter of the year. Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle will receive
Clearwire s Clear, Comcast s Comcast High-Speed 2Go and Sprint s Sprint
4G connectivity options while Texas, North Carolina and Hawaii will
receive Sprint s Sprint 4G and Clearwire s Clear connectivity options.

Philadelphia will receive 4G networks from the three giants in the next
couple of weeks. Chicago will follow in November while Seattle will be
serviced in early December. Markets in North Carolina and Texas will get
4G speeds in November while Hawaiian customers will only get 4G in early
December.

Clearwire and Sprint customers will also be able to get proper equipment
in order to actually be able to take advantage of the new speeds.
Laptops and netbooks, compact USB modems and wireless devices are going
to be available from Clearwire and Sprint but we don t have any
specifics at this point. However, we would love to see some new
smartphones capable of 4G speeds. Various manufacturers are probably
developing such models and CES 2010 should be the place where various
concept phones capable of handling superior data speeds will be revealed.

So what about the rest of the world? Will we see telecommunications
giants like Vodafone, Telefonica or T-Mobile launch LTE or WiMAX
networks soon? They definitely should as the more time they waste
waiting around, the more 3G-capable phones will be sold and therefore
the more crappy 3G networks will be. What s your take on all this? How
is your 3G experience so far?