Faster wireless networks coming to Myrtle Beach area
Source: Adva Saldinger
Smart phone users tired of waiting for a website to load or tablet owners sick of waiting for a movie to download may soon have an opportunity to upgrade to faster networks as cell phone providers improve technologies along the Grand Strand.
Some wireless carriers, such as T-Mobile and AT&T, offer a faster network called HSPA+ in the area, an improvement over the 3G network that has largely existed until now. Experts called the HSPA+ network a sort of in between network, a 3.5G, not quite fast enough to be considered 4G.
AT&T and Verizon Wireless have plans to bring a 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network to the area within the next couple of years, which could mean speeds 10 to 20 times as fast as today. Sprint hasn’t announced any plans to bring 4G to South Carolina, according to spokeswoman Roni Singleton. HTC wireless customers have their service through AT&T.
The 4G LTE networks that are being rolled out are still early versions of the technology, which has the capability to eventually be as fast as 100 megabits per second, compared to the roughly 1 megabit per second that 3G networks transmit, said Karen Patten, an assistant professor of integrated information technology at the University of South Carolina
With consumers doing more with mobile devices such as smart phones, existing networks are reaching capacity, resulting in slow-downs for some customers, she said.
“We’re using it for video, for multimedia, for games and we’re talking on the phone at the same time,” Patten said. “We need increased capacity and that’s why we need the increased speeds.”
Data usage from T-Mobile customers nationwide has increased more than 300 percent in the last year, an indicator that more customers are using smart phones to access the Internet, play games and interact, said Michael Miess, T-Mobile’s vice president and general manager for the Carolinas.
T-Mobile increased its network speeds in the area in the past year and covers 21 cell sites in the area with the HSPA+ network, which translates to faster access to data in Horry and Georgetown counties, he said.
T-Mobile upgraded to a faster HSPA42 network along the Grand Strand within the past two months, Miess said.
“From a market share standpoint it is a very strong market for us,” he said. “It was a key area that we wanted to deploy it just from that perspective.”
There is already technology being worked on to increase speeds even more dramatically, but T-Mobile hasn’t announced any plans to roll it out or how that would happen, Miess said.
Mark Harris, an assistant professor of integrated information technology at the University of South Carolina, said that one of the drawbacks of the faster networks is that consumers will have to buy new equipment. Another potential problem is that when moving between new and old networks, for example while driving from one place to another, calls or downloads might be dropped and would have to be restarted, he said.
As for consumers who might have thought the new network will improve connectivity or get you more bars of reception, it won’t happen, Harris said.
“All of the same problems exist in 3G, connection problems... still exist with 4G networks,” he said.
The faster speeds are a significant advantage though, Harris said. Mobile devices with existing 4G technology are about as fast as a cable connection at someone’s home, he said.
The added speed will mean a better consumer or business experience, said Josh Gelinas, an AT&T spokesman. “It is the future of commerce, of education and economic viability,” Gelinas said. “The speed allows all those things to happen.”
AT&T has some HSPA+ network coverage in the Myrtle Beach area, primarily along the coast and denser population areas, and has plans to bring 4G LTE to the Grand Strand in the next few years, Gelinas said.
“I don’t have a timeline for when that service will be upgraded to LTE, though Myrtle Beach is an important market for AT&T and we plan to provide LTE service across most of our network by the end of 2013,” he said.
AT&T’s approach is to add HSPA+ and then upgrade to 4G LTE, a strategy it has put in place in part to reduce what Gelinas called “wireless whiplash” which would mean consumers dramatically losing speed when going from an area that has 4G LTE to an area with 3G.
In addition to the plans to improve speed, AT&T has also upgraded coverage in the area, adding capacity to six cell sites in Georgetown County in the past several weeks, Gelinas said.
AT&T and T-Mobile have announced plans to merge, but the deal is waiting for approval from federal regulators. If the deal goes through, the company would provide 4G LTE service to 97 percent of the U.S. population, including more South Carolinians, he said.
Verizon Wireless customers watching recent additions of 4G coverage to Charleston last month and to Columbia earlier this year shouldn’t get their hopes up too high that Myrtle Beach is just around the corner.
Karen Schulz, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, can’t say exactly when 4G LTE will come to the Grand Strand. “We’ve been very, very aggressive with the roll out here in the Carolinas and Tennessee region. We will certainly be finished covering our footprint by the end of 2013,” she said.
Schulz said there are hundreds of variables that go into deciding when they bring 4G to different places and hardware and new software has to be added at cell towers and cell sites.
Verizon’s 4GLTE network will be about 10 times faster than 3G, which will allow customers to download movies and books in minutes and music in seconds, she said.
“The difference between 3G and 4G LTE is the difference between a kitchen faucet and a fire hose in the data we can move over our network. It allows more technology to move over our network,” Schulz said.
The faster speeds will also bring new capabilities, such as real-time multi-player gaming and live-streaming video conferencing, she said. The faster network can be good for businesses too. Doctors can video conference with patients to make a diagnoses or evaluate x-rays, consumers will be able to wirelessly monitor appliances and energy usage, and Realtors can more quickly upload photos, Schulz said.
Consumers who aren’t looking to upgrade quite yet shouldn’t worry about losing their network - 3G will still be around. As with 3G’s predecessors, it will likely eventually be phased out, but not until robust 4G networks are in place throughout the country, Harris said.
The existing 4G technology will also improve over time, getting faster and changing the way consumers use electronic devices, Patten said. The long-term goal of the 4G technology is that it could replace cellular, cable and Wifi networks, she said.
“I think the one key is it gives us the promise of one network where we can do any communication, any time, from any place, using all our different devices over one network,” she said. “That is the dream for the future.”
Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/08/06/2316960/faster-wireless-networks-coming.html#ixzz1UM73j6mm
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