Does One S support 4G

[Lefthand]

I'm on T-Mobile Uk, so very pleased to hear they will be the first to roll out 4G in the UK. I'm due to upgrade my HTC Desire S soon and really fancy the One S, but just wanted to make sure it supports 4G before I decide? Many thanks for any info on this!

 

[agentc13]

Yep, it's 4G capable.

 

[Lefthand]

Thanks, that's the deal breaker!

 

[MrMischief]

Just to be clear, it supports 4G, but not 4G LTE. I know LTE isn't in the UK yet, but when it does arrive, the One S can't take advantage of it.

 

[Lefthand]

Just to be clear, it supports 4G, but not 4G LTE. I know LTE isn't in the UK yet, but when it does arrive, the One S can't take advantage of it.

Sorry, what's LTE? When T-Mobile and Orange (Everything Everywhere) will introduce 4G in the UK in a few months, will the One S be able to use it?

 

[MrMischief]

Sorry, what's LTE? When T-Mobile and Orange (Everything Everywhere) will introduce 4G in the UK in a few months, will the One S be able to use it?

LTE is real 4G.

 

[agentc13]

Okay, this is going to be a bit techinical, so bear with me...
HTC One S Frequency bands etc:

• GSM/EDGE Support - 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
• WCDMA Support One S - International - 850 / 900 / 2100 MHz
• WCDMA Support One S - T-Mobile - 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
• HSPA Speeds - HSDPA 42.2 (Cat.24) / HSUPA 5.76 (Cat.6)

From Wikipedia

In March 2008, the International Telecommunications Union-Radio communications sector (ITU-R) specified a set of requirements for 4G standards, named the International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification, setting peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s) for high mobility communication and 1 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) for low mobility communication.

Since the above mentioned first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed"

The HTC One S includes air interface support up to DC-HSPA+ Category 24 (two WCDMA carriers with 64QAM) for a max data rate of 42 Mbps.

The HSPA+ standard...up to 42 Mbit/s peak bit rate downstreams.. In theory 672 Mbit/s is possible, but still not deployed.

LTE is real 4G.

Well, not techinically. And it isn't the 4G that is rollingout in the UK:

The pre-4G technology 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is often branded "4G-LTE", but the first LTE release does not fully comply with the IMT-Advanced requirements. LTE has a theoretical net bit rate capacity of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink if a 20 MHz channel is used — and more if multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), i.e. antenna arrays, are used.

While fast neither of these technologies actually meet the requirements for 4G, but since they are faster than 3G, they are branded as such.


As far as 4G rollout in the UK:

U.K. regulators today awarded highly coveted 4G spectrum to Everything Everywhere (EE), a mobile operator that offers service under the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the region.
...
The decision means that EE will be the first provider to offer 4G service in the U.K.
...
Specifically, regulator Ofcom this week approved EE's application to use 1800 MHz spectrum to deliver 4G services.
...
The license granted to EE allows the provider to start offering LTE services on Sept. 11, 2012.
...
Later this year, Ofcom will auction off additional spectrum in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, which will allow other providers to jump into the 4G game.

The One S supports the 1800 MHz band that this will be originally rolling out on, so it will get those speeds.