Considering 4G wireless?
Source: COURTENAY EDELHART
All of the major mobile phone carriers are scrambling to upgrade to super speedy 4G networks, and the race is on in Bakersfield.
4G stands for "fourth generation" of mobile phone Internet access technology, something that has been getting faster incrementally for more than two decades.
MetroPCS launched 4G LTE service in Bakersfield in November.
Verizon's 4G LTE service kicked off in Bakersfield and Delano on Thursday.
AT&T started putting HSPA+ in place in Bakersfield in December and will begin phasing in LTE nationwide this summer.
Sprint and T-Mobile don't offer 4G in Bakersfield yet, but it's just a matter of time.
The hold up, in part, is cost, said Ritch Blasi, president of MediaRitch Communications, a communications consulting firm in Cape Coral, Fla.
It's wildly expensive to implement 4G. A single cell tower can easily cost upwards of $400,000, so before carriers make the investment, they want to be sure there will be enough users to recoup their costs and turn a profit.
"If you're just going to make phone calls and check your email now and then, you probably don't need to rush into 4G," Blasi said. "It's the high-bandwidth users who are downloading movies and things like that who need 4G."
Carriers have rich internal data on just how many of their customers are doing that and where, and they won't enter a market until the numbers add up, Blasi said.
Verizon is among those that says the demand here is sufficient today.
"Given the population growth and increased demand for wireless data services in the area, we wanted to include Bakersfield in our 2011 roll out," said spokeswoman Heidi Flato.
Another factor slowing down 4G's arrival in Bakersfield is that municipalities have to approve construction permits and zoning changes before the infrastructure can be built, so even highly motivated carriers can only build as fast as the city will let them.
Because all that construction is cumbersome and takes time, there will be pockets of town where 4G coverage is not yet available even for subscribers whose carriers offer the service.
In zones that are not yet upgraded, mobile devices will revert to 3G and stay at that speed until the user moves to an area with 4G coverage.
Almost every smart phone and tablet has some kind of indicator to let users know if they're operating in 3G or 4G, similar to the way bars on a mobile phone screen show the strength of the phone signal in a given area.
Some mobile phone carriers have maps of the city on their websites to show potential customers if there is coverage near them. It's a good idea to check on whether your home and workplace are in an area with 4G coverage before buying a 4G mobile device, which can cost as much as $100 more than a 3G device.
Either that, or take an optimistic roll of the dice. Even if your neighborhood doesn't have 4G coverage now, it likely will in the next year or two, which would be before the expiration of a two-year contract that starts this month.
All of the carriers that offer 4G in town have multiple 4G devices to choose from. AT&T alone sells about 20 of them.
The federal government is doing what it can to spur mobile Internet upgrades, especially in smaller communities.
The conversion from analog to digital television freed up an enormous amount of spectrum that is largely being used for 4G upgrades. And if you look on your phone bill, you'll see a monthly fee (roughly $12 per person) for the Universal Service Fund, which among other things helps improve communication in rural areas.
There's also a National Broadband Plan, a federal report filled with recommendations to increase spectrum for both wired and wireless devices. Implementation of those recommendations is already underway and will continue over the next decade.
"It's a process, and it's exciting to watch the wireless technology market unfold," said Matt Nodine, chief of staff and legal advisor for the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission.
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