Though 3G still seems like a relatively recent addition to cell phone service technology, most service providers are quickly moving on to bigger and better things in the name of 4G. T-Mobile USA is the most recent company to advertise 4G service, claiming it owns “America’s largest 4G network.” Sprint Nextel Corp., however, disagrees, saying that T-Mobile’s advertised 4G is actually well disguised 3G service. Sprint labels itself as “the first wireless 4G network” and has been doing so for the past two years.
Sprint’s network is being built by partner Clearwire Corp., and will run on a technology called WiMax. T-Mobile is using a faster technology called HSPA+. T-Mobile downloads data at speeds faster than Sprint, and has thus been defending its right to label its network as 4G. However, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) neither one qualifies as 4G service, which must reach speeds of 100 megabits per second, while T-Mobile has speeds from 5-8 and Sprint from 3-6.
While it may seem unethical for T-Mobile and Sprint to clearly mislabel their services, it is understandable from a marketing standpoint that they do this, because it certainly sparks interest from consumers in their product. The main point of differentiation in telecommunications is the level of technology offered by a company, so often which ever company is offering the newest and most efficient service will see an increase in profits. These companies, however, may find it a better marketing strategy to simply advertise their download speeds rather than label their services as 4G, because if it is discovered by the majority of the consumers that this is a mislabel then the company will lose a lot of credibility.
Savannah,
ReplyDeleteI always find it very interesting when people are able to pick up on deceitful marketing techniques as I feel it speaks to the overall character of those in the company. If you have ever seen the ads for "need cash fast?" they often portrait people who seem to just show up and get money, when in reality the loans are nearly impossible to qualify for or the interest rates are incredibly high. Just because one company practices this tactic doesn't mean that others need to jump on board to remain competitive. In fact, taking a shot at the company may very well improve business if you were to simply claim to have the absolute fastest network. Terminology is often misrepresented in several aspects of society and the sad fact is that many times it flies right over the average consumer's head. As someone personally interested in technology, I myself didn't even know the minimum threshold where 4G technically begins. I encourage everyone to be on the lookout for tactics such as these as hopefully it will lead to fairer marketing campaigns in the future. We should purchase something because we feel the product best meets our needs, not because we have been lied to in advertisements.