Uptake of 4G – when speed is not enough

Reports suggest that faster download speeds are not all that is required to reverse the slow uptake of 4G mobile connections.

When it was first rolled out across the UK last year, many had expected demand for superfast 4G services to be huge, especially amongst business audiences. The reality, however, has been somewhat different, with take-up proving much slower than first anticipated.

Now, analysts have been considering ways of reversing this trend and making 4G a far more attractive proposition for both commercial and domestic users. One thing that has already been discounted, however, is trying to make the service faster.

Money talks but network loyalty is also a factor

Whilst speed has been the main selling point for 4G, analysts declared this was not as big a deciding factor as cost or prior network loyalty. Some consumers also registered coverage worries, whilst others said they were unsure whether there would be issues with a changeover from 3G to 4G usage.

Despite all this, 4G provider EE has claimed it will still be increasing its speeds to between 24 and 30Mbps, which equates to roughly double the speed of a reasonable fixed broadband connection. It even went one step further to claim that, in the near future, users could enjoy speeds of up to 150Mbps.

This, the network has claimed, would make it easier for mobile users to stream high definition movies, which have become more popular and widely-used over recent years. Not only that, but also it would help when uploading pictures or videos taken on ever-improving high-definition cameras.

To really win the public over, however, it would seem that 4G providers also need to provide reassurances on coverage and changeover, with many still registering concerns that top-level speeds are useless if, in their part of the UK, all that can be achieved is a significantly slower connection.