4g what you need to know

4G is coming -- but what is 4G and when will it supercharge your gadgets? 4G is 3G, only faster, giving you a speedier Internet connection on your smart phone, tablet, or laptop.  Nexus 7

The phone networks are racing to start beaming the Web into your phone at souped-up speeds, and that race hotted up this week with the news that Orange and T-Mobile could launch their network before the end of this year.

What's so great about 4G?

4G is much faster than 3G, letting you download Web pages or stream, music and video at speeds of between 8 and 30Mbps -- so say goodbye to stuttering video and tunes when you're out and about.

And 4G isn't just about fast phones. Matthew Howett, principal analyst at Ovum, points out that 4G is welcome news for "residents of rural and remote Britain, many of whom lack even the most basic broadband services. For the final third of the UK that will not be passed with fibre broadband, mobile remains the most likely solution."

4G signals travel further than 3G, so they bring the Internet to parts of the country other data signals can't reach, making 4G a credible alternative to piping the Web in the old-fashioned way.

How does it work?

4G is a bit of a catch-all term, referring to several methods of connecting to the Internet while you're out and about, but the flavour of 4G we're getting in Britain is called Long-Term Evolution, or LTE.LTE works on the same principle as 3G. Your phone sends and receives data to and from the Internet over airwaves via your phone network's masts. Simple enough, but here's where it gets complicated: just like a radio tuning into different stations, different networks will use different frequencies for their 4G networks, and that could have an impact on which phones you can use.

We should note that LTE isn't technically 4G, according to the standards body that decides these things. But don't worry about that: because LTE offers a significant step up in speed and coverage, it's being marketed as the next generation of data network after 3G -- hence, 4G.

Why are Orange and T-Mobile ahead of the 4G pack?

Orange and T-Mobile recently merged into one company collectively known as Everything Everywhere and so have airwaves to spare. This week Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, agreed to let Orange and T-Mobile use some of their spare airwaves, at 1,800MHz, to allow customers to connect to the Internet using next-generation 4G speeds.

Unlocking Orange and T-Mobile's existing airwaves for 4G, also known as spectrum liberalisation, gives the Everything Everywhere companies a massive advantage over rival networks: Vodafone and O2 have to wait until Ofcom auctions off the 800MHz and 2,600MHz bands later this year.

As a condition of Orange and T-Mobile's marriage, the European merger watchdog ordered them to also sell some of their airwaves. Three has bought a part of the Everything Everywhere 1,800MHz spectrum, and because the entire 1,800MHz band has been approved for 4G, Three could start its own 4G network too -- which means Orange, T-Mobile and Three could all have a head start over poor old Vodafone and O2.

Why has Ofcom given Orange and T-Mobile a head start?

According to Howett, "Ofcom’s assessment is that we are better off having some form of 4G in the UK today than having none."

Not that the other networks see it that way. Vodafone is "shocked" at Ofcom's "careless disregard for the best interests of consumers, businesses and the wider economy," calling for the regulator to "finally do its job" and hustle in a competitive market for 4G. O2 is "hugely disappointed." And Three says the playing field isn't level, which "ultimately harms consumers", although it does at least have a chance to catch up to Orange and T-Mobile if it uses the 1,800MHz spectrum it's just bought.

"It is rare for a regulator to give head starts or handicaps to competitive operators," says Stephanie Liston, senior council at Charles Russell LLP -- but she notes Orange and T-Mobile haven't won yet, adding: "being a first mover in telecoms is not always an advantage."

So when will we get 4G?

Everything Everywhere have been given the go-ahead for 4G starting on 11 September, but it still has to get the infrastructure in place. That's likely to be October -- but 4G signals flying about the place aren't any use without a device that knows how to deal with them. Everything Everywhere reckons it will kick things off with 4G mobile broadband dongles, but we'll probably have to wait until next year for 4G phones.

Which phones will work with 4G?

The problem with all these different bands is that it makes it hard for manufacturers to make one phone that works everywhere. It's a royal pain to make a phone that has different chips in it for each country or network, so manufacturers are more likely to wait until 4G is more established before putting multi-band chips in phones that will allow them to work in different countries.

On a positive note, Australia and parts of Europe and Asia use the 1,800MHz frequency to be used by Everything Everywhere, so in theory, an Australian 4G phone or tablet would work here -- but more importantly, widespread use of that band makes it more likely manufacturers will make phones that support that band.

We'd assume that the next generation of flagship phones will support 4G, but it's not a foregone conclusion: as discussed earlier, it's a matter of airwaves.

Also, you might have to choose between 4G or quad-core. Today's dual-core phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X, come in 4G flavours overseas, but only with their processors stripped back to dual-core. Hopefully the next lot of super smart phones will manage to have both 4G and four cores.

4G or not 4G?

We're excited about 4G, but we have to remember not to get too carried away just yet. Orange and T-Mobile may have had the green light for their 4G network, but that doesn't mean we'll be seeing increased speeds and wider rural coverage in the immediate future.