WiMax ≠ 4G, LTE ≠ 4G, 4G simply does not exist

Despite the large letters of 4G on advertising billboards with a skirt fired up (namely, one of the Ukrainian WiMax operators attracts the attention of the skirt), neither mobile WiMax nor LTE is a “fourth generation technology”, and the purpose of the note is to conduct a little “educational program” on this topic .

To begin with, let's decide what 3G and 4G are.

What we know as 3G is described in the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000), a specification approved by the International Telecommunications Union (hereinafter ITU), and the radio interfaces included in the “third generation” are described in recommendation ITU-R M. 1457, the first edition of which was agreed back in 1999.
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Initially, the recommendation described five technologies that are related to 3G, but in 2007 the list was supplemented by the IEEE802.16 standard ^[1] , hence WiMax became the third generation of mobile communication.

But what about 4G? The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) plans to release the IMT-Advanced specification, which will describe the next generation of mobile communications. In the fall of 2009, ITU announced that six technologies are being considered as candidates for IMT-Advanced. It is expected that these technologies will be approved as present 4G in October 2010 ^[2] . By this time, none of the existing technologies belong to the fourth generation.

Perhaps WiMax and LTE are candidates for 4G, and approval of IMT-Advanced is just a formality? The official 4G candidates are the five options 3GPP LTE Release 10 (and subsequent releases, better known as LTE-Advanced ) and IEEE 802.16m, better known as WiMAX Release 2 . However, Release 2 of the WiMax standard is expected only at the end of 2011 ^[3] (according to the WiMax Forum organization, it is directly developing this communication standard), 3GPP is also not in a hurry to approve Rel.10 until the requirements for IMT-Advanced are approved. Existing networks like WiMax (Intellecom and Freshtel in Ukraine, Yota in the Russian Federation, Sprint in the USA) and LTE (TeliaSonera in Sweden and Norway) are not (and are not candidates) in 4G, despite the use of 4G in advertising services and products.

Summarizing what has been written, 4G does not currently exist, and beautiful 4G inscriptions in advertising services should be perceived solely as part of the brand of individual operators.

^[1] ITU Radiocommunication Assembly approves new 3G standards
^[2] IMT-Advanced (4G) Mobile wireless broadband on the anvil
^[3] WiMAX (TM) Ecosystem Backs IEEE 802.16m for IMT-Advanced and Future Proof Roadmap

Also a good comment from the supplier:
Despite the marketing statements of individual vendors and operators, none of the currently existing technologies is yet 4G technology. It simply does not exist. Technologies claiming the right to be called 4G technologies, or IMT Advanced, must be approved by the International Telecommunication Union - the main telecommunications standardization body in the world. To this end, in early November, documentation describing the LTE Advanced and IEEE 802.16m standards was submitted for its consideration. The main goal of LTE Advanced developers is to achieve bandwidth up to 1 Gbit / sec. Judging by the comprehensive support of LTE Advanced in the mobile communications industry, it is already clear that it will become a key 4G technology.
(c) Peter Zehetner , Ericsson Ukraine, from the Kommersant Interview

My translation and adaptation of my Ukrainian-language article ;) - many more people will read it here, and the benefits will be more noticeable