Everybody's a Liar: HSPA+ vs WiMAX as "4G" Networks

I love numbers. All my friends know this, and I think you should know it too. And I love technology, having a soft spot for anything related to networking, wireless communications, or artificial intelligence.  Today, I pleasantly stumbled across an article about two of the three.

The good folks at PhoneScoop.com apparently heard T-Mobile’s claims of 4G speeds on their 3G network and, like any good tech enthusiast, decided to put it to the test. The verdict: T-Mobile’s recently-upgraded 3G network (using HSPA+) has the same download speed and 2x the upload speed of Sprint’s “4G” (using WiMAX) network. The kicker: this was tested right here in Philadelphia.

Now I think this is worth noting because T-Mobile took quite a flaming for its claim of “4G Speeds” from rival companies. The irony is that the other carriers that indignantly spewed about T-Mobile “misleading consumers” and “false advertising” are doing the exact same thing: none of the current networks reach the 4G standard as defined by the ITU-R, which is the international body that defines such things.