The 3G world these days is getting more and more in the hyper speed frenzy with operators announcing 3.5G HSDPA rollouts. With speed claims of 3.6 or even 7.2 MBit/s, they suggest that they are at the same level with DSL and cable providers. Reality, however, looks quite different as these speeds can only be achieved under very unlikely conditions:

• Only one user in the cell (or transmitter, to be exact)
• A standalone cell, i.e. no cells in the neighborhood creating interference
• Line of sight and very short distance to the base station
• Advanced receivers in user devices
• The connection of the base station to the rest of the network (backhaul) provides enough capacity.

It’s quite obvious that most users will not experience such conditions when using the network.

As a consequence, raw HSDPA speed claims are harmful for the wireless industry because users and journalists take these speed claims at face value and compare them to DSL and cable. While I do get 6, 8 or even more MBit/s over my DSL line while my neighbors also download media streams at high speeds, HSDPA speed claims of 7.2 MBit/s (for everyone as the texts usually imply quite slyly) are empty ones. I’d like the wireless industry to be a bit more realistic with their claims as it will do them more good in the long run setting realistic expectations than once again claiming something they can’t deliver. But how can you make the headlines with realistic claims?