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4G costs carriers less to deliver than 3G, so why does it cost more?
June 27, 2025
Did you know that when you upgrade your phone to your wireless providers’ 4G network, you are actually helping your wireless provider financially? Wireless providers’ 4G networks are cheaper to deliver for cellular carriers. So, why do you end up paying more for using the 4G network than on the slower 3G service?
ReadWrite did a fantastic storydetailing the way that wireless providers have blatantly lied (with help from the International Telecommunications Union) about what a 4G phone actually gets you as the “real” definition of 4G are download speeds of 1 gigabit per second in a fixed location and 100 megabits per second while in motion.
Although the story goes into great detail about the difference between 4G and 3G networks, the bottom line is that carriers are delivering significantly more speeds at half the cost/effort.
People in the United States pay considerably more for cellular plans with just 500MB of data than almost every other country.
The chances of consumers paying less for their services in the future are slim to none. Most, if not all, of the big players in the wireless industry have put millions into lobbying in Washington DC.Verizon and AT&T seem able to convince manythat their manufactured spectrum crisis is about to pull down the economy unless they can merge with rivals companies.
So, while our wireless networks may not be thefastest or cheapest, they do make more money than any of their overseas counterparts. Areport by analyst Chetan Sharmashows that in 2014 the United States will become the first nation to cross the $100 billion mark in annual mobile data revenues. The report also notes that 2013 was the first time data revenues exceeded voice revenues ($24.8 billion in the fourth quarter).
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