Lots of buzz around 4G - and Sprint and Clearwire certainly need that buzz to reach tweet level. But is it a game changer

Just my opinion but 3G is ho-hum. I haven't noticed that much speed off by EVDO card or Blackberry. In some places and times, it's quick, but in SO many times and places it is dial-up slow.

I understand the buzz: these companies need to make it seem special so that they can charge more -- to pay for network upgrades and backhaul costs. We are paying for their poor planning.

Think about it: 2.5G, 3G, 4G/LTE/WiMax. That's a lot of upgrading, but the backhaul has been slow and done on the cheap - at the expense of the customer in terms of service delivery. Also, if they had just bit the bullet to have fiber to towers, they would be ahead of the game now, instead of playing catch up.

For the Channel, I don't see how 4G will be that big of a deal. For the POTS/DSL sector, it gives them something else to pedal that resembles TDM. But AT&T doesn't let agents sell iPhones - and why else are people getting on that network? Online sites can sell cellular plans much cheaper than agents can. Even give rebates to the point that the buyer gets money back. Agents don't have that luxury. Agents also don't usually have access to latest devices, handsets or plans. So game changer? Not really.

There are agents that use 4G for M2M or broadband back-up that will be able to make some coin with solution selling it, but I don't think offering 4G like you do Dynamic T1's will be a biz plan that works. I could be wrong, but when the brick-and-mortar corporate stores have to make quota, agents won't be able to compete. And again online stores will win too.