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Pundits already looking to 4G phones, networks

The world may still be months off seeing its first genuine 3G phone network - but this doesn't mean that people aren't looking, already, to the next generation 4G systems.

Peter Firstbrook, senior research analyst for Meta Group, has told Wireless Newsfactor - an American-based news site, that "mainstream consumer applications making use of 4G are at least 10 years away."

The "wild, wild world of 4G wireless", says this report, "is expected to bring higher data transmission speeds and media-rich broadband services, at rates up to 20 times faster than DSL (digital subscriber line). It promises to make callers' lives less complicated, with services like global roaming.

Reporter Lou Hirsh quotes Giga Information Group research analyst Lisa Pierce, saying: "Companies are trying to avoid repeating the big mistake of recent years, which was setting unrealistic expectations among consumers about what next-gen wireless technology can do for them."

Pierce said 3G will not be fully in place in the U.S. before 2006. "As with 3G, experts expect 4G services to get a foothold in Asian markets well before they begin to penetrate the US," reports Hirsh.