New iPad's '4G' marketing questioned

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This was published 12 years ago

New iPad's '4G' marketing questioned

By Ben Grubb
Updated

An Australian Samsung executive has labelled Apple's marketing of its new iPad with "4G" mobile broadband technology as "confusing" considering the tablet will not be capable of 4G broadband speeds in Australia.

An Australian spokeswoman for Apple said on the day the new iPad was unveiled last Thursday, after some confusion, that it was correct to say it did "not connect to Telstra 4G".

A wait of 2-3 weeks is listed on the Apple site.

A wait of 2-3 weeks is listed on the Apple site.

Despite this, it hasn't stopped Apple from advertising its new tablet in Australia as one that can use 4G, leaving it to the fine print for customers to find out they cannot get 4G speeds here.

Today, following the publication of this article, the Apple spokeswoman did not say why the mobile iPad version continued to be advertised as 4G but noted that the Apple website listed telcos in the US and Canada as supporting 4G.

Journalists test "The New iPad"

Journalists test "The New iPad"Credit: AFP

"The new iPad supports fast [mobile] networks the world over - up to 4G LTE," the spokeswoman said.

The competition watchdog, the ACCC, said it would "not be making any comment on Apple". It did however say that, as a general rule, Australian businesses were "prohibited from misleading their customers".

"... traders should be very careful about promoting the benefits of a good or service without adequately disclosing limitations on receiving those benefits. (such as should they not currently be available.)," it said.

A spokesman for communications regulator the ACMA, David Brumfield, said that for the new iPad to work on Australian 4G networks it would have to be modified to work with what mobile spectrum was available.

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The Samsung executive's comments came with a swipe at Apple, indicating that one of Samsung's tablets was compatible with Telstra's 4G network, and were supported by an independent telco analyst who agreed that Apple's use of the 4G term in its marketing had "the potential to confuse consumers".

"My personal view is that I think it is very confusing for consumers," Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee, said of the new iPad being advertised as 4G in Australia in an interview at the launch of his company's Galaxy Note smartphone last night. "I guess consumers will, if they buy [it] under the impression that it is 4G, soon be disappointed in their buying decision."

He said his company's Galaxy Tab 8.9 4G was the only tablet in Australia with true 4G capabilities. "There's obviously the [new iPad] that's been announced claiming to be 4G but it is not supported in Australia."

Apple has produced one iPad for US telco AT&T which carries 4G speeds at 700 megahertz and 2100 MHz frequencies. It has made another product for US telco Verizon which operates at 700 MHz only. But no Australian mobile carriers currently operate 4G at these frequencies. (Telstra carries 4G network speeds on the 1800 MHz spectrum while Optus has been testing 4G at 700 MHz in anticipation of that spectrum becoming available to mobile carriers in 2014.)

The iPad will still work, however, with the 3G networks of all Australian telcos and can also take advantage of Telstra's HSPA+ dual channel technology, sometimes referred to as "3.5G", which Telstra has said provides typical download speeds that are up to twice as fast as 3G speeds available on other Australian networks.

Telsyte telecommunications analyst Foad Fadaghi believed Samsung had "done everything correct" in the way it marketed its 4G tablet but said Apple "could do more to help consumers understand that [its new iPad] doesn't work on the current Telstra LTE network in Australia", which is commonly referred to as its 4G network.

LTE promises download speeds of 100 megabits per second, although theoretical network speeds often rely on being very close to a tower. Telstra promises "typical download speeds ranging from 2Mbps to 40Mbps" on its LTE network, which is available in select areas including in the CBDs of many Australian cities.

Mr Fadaghi noted that the term 4G was "generally confusing" across the globe, including here in Australia, as it was used loosely by telcos and device manufacturers for a number of different technologies.

"In different parts of the world they call what we call our 3.5G network 4G," he said. "The problem is the term 4G is a marketing term, not a technical specification."

The Samsung executive and analyst's comments come after Apple updated their Australian website with information after the launch of its new iPad that wasn't there when the device was first listed last week.

The update added, among other changes to the tablet's pre-order web page, the following line to the technical specifications of the new iPad: "The iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G model ... is configured to work with a particular mobile network technology. Check with your carrier for compatibility and cellular data plan availability."

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The changes can be compared using Google's copy of the page taken on the day the new iPad was unveiled.

This reporter is on Facebook: /bengrubb

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