T-Mobile officially kicked off their 4G marketing campaign tonight with the introduction of a video that took a shot across the bow of AT&T. While we’re certain to hear an AT&T response in the next day or two, Sprint certainly took the opportunity to take a shot at T-Mobile even before the commercial ran.
Sprint 4G President Matt Carter responded to T-Mobile’s claims by saying:
“Halloween is over–it’s time for T-Mobile to stop dressing up like their favorite super hero–Sprint 4G.”
That’s all well and nice, President Carter, but around these parts we recognize that what really counts is cold hard facts. You can take all the cheap shots you want but the proof is in the pudding as they say. Recently, I tested out both the EVO 4G and Epic 4G, Sprint’s so-called, “4G” enabled handsets, and the first thing I tested was data speeds. On average, I would get around 2.3Mbps (Downlink) in New York City on Sprint’s 4G (WiMAX) network and around 5Mbps (Downlink) on T-Mobile’s 4G (HSPA+) network. But, unlike Sprint’s 4G network which requires a 4G handset to take advantage of the network, T-Mobile’s 4G network is backward compatible, meaning non-HSPA+ handsets will also benefit and receive a speed increase. Furthermore, T-Mobile’s 4G network has a max download rate of 21Mbps with plans to upgrade to 42Mbps beginning next year, compared to Sprint’s 4G network which has a max of 10Mbps download speeds. Lastly, in addition to being forced to purchase a 4G- enabled handset to take advantage of Sprint’s “4G” network, Sprint also charges customers who want to use 4G data speeds $10 extra each month. T-Mobile does not charge anything extra to use its 4G network.