No wireless company in the world is close to offering that sort of performance, but that hasn't stopped carriers from branding their next-gen networks as 4G.

"The carriers won't backtrack on their marketing efforts," said Harry Wang, director of mobile and health research at Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates. "They do want to confuse you a little bit."

Wang at Parks Associates said video will be the most obvious beneficiary of 4G speeds.

"Right now, you try streaming Netflix on your phone during peak hours, and your experience might be disrupted," he said. "On 4G, you might not have that issue."

But Wang at Parks Associates said carriers can't afford to raise data prices much higher than they are now if they want customers to adopt 4G.
"For the majority of consumers, probably they will be comfortable at a price plan at a similar level to what they're currently doing," he said.

From the article, "Verizon, other wireless carriers vary on standards for high-speed 4G service" by Jim Rossman

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