Do you really need LTE?

I am going to be a luddite now and suggest that you do not need LTE. Continue reading to find out why.

Think about what you use your smartphone for and the times when a faster connection would be useful. From a personal use perspective those times do not occur very often. Streaming video is one of the few occasions when things slow down a lot, but YouTube and the BBC are often behind the slowness of connection and general choppiness that often occurs. A faster connection will no doubt help, but not all of the time and how often do you prefer to watch a video on a smartphone in place of a tablet or PC anyway?

I can see benefits on a tablet and larger screened devices, but LTE will initially be focussed towards smartphone and the benefits may not outweigh the downsides. Potentially larger phones, more power required to offer less battery life and a whole new cycle of consumer pain simply to gain extra speed that will not be required most of the time.

Of course more speed is great as was shown with the birth of Broadband, but this was confined to devices where battery was a minimal concern and to this day that is still true. I just wonder how long it will take for the benefits to outweigh the downsides the technology will bring and for the moment I am content with 3G. Maybe I am a luddite, but I am also a realist.