US Phone LTE Speeds

 LTE is an acronym for Long Term Evolution, basically a term, along with 4G (fourth generation) for phone signal speeds. Open Signal's latest report on the status of LTE networks indicates that the United States ranks fourth in overall LTE availability, with 86.5% of people able to access an LTE signal.

However, LTE service in the States is slower than fifty eight other countries worldwide. The report ranking the United States fifty-ninth of seventy seven countries in terms of average downstream speeds at around 15 Mbps. Most other studies also indicate that United States citizens pay more money for 4G LTE wireless broadband than most other developed countries. So, it is more available, more costly, and less speed. Seems like, in the US greed beats speed.

Global Internet Speeds

The US is still slipping behind the rest of the world when it comes to download speeds, with an average of 10 Mbps it ranks just 55th worldwide.

For coverage, US subscribers get an LTE signal 81 percent of the time, or seventh best in the world. By comparison, Romania offers only 61 percent coverage for its LTE network, but has speeds as fast as 33 Mbps.

The global average for download speeds on LTE is 13.5 Mbps. Singapore offers the fastest networks, with downloads as fast as 40 Mbps. During 2015, America's average download speed was a paltry 9 Mbps.

Top 5 fastest countries average speeds:
    New Zealand, 36 Mbps
    Singapore, 33 Mbps
    Romania, 30 Mbps
    South Korea, 29 Mbps
    Denmark, 26 Mbps.

Cell Phone History

First cell phone 1973 large commercial mobile phone, first flip type mobile phone, 1G system, Nordic Mobile Telephone was introduced in 1981, first 2g second generation cell phone 1991, digital vs. analog first phone to phone text 1993, 1994 Simon smartphone could fax had stylus, touchscreen color screen (never became a success).

In 1999, the Japanese firm NTT Docomo released the first smartphones to achieve mass adoption within a country, 2001 first 3g phone, 2007 first touch screen smartphone, 2009 first 4g phones. 5G phone development has yet to begin, but should arrive by 2020.

2g, 3g, etc., is for generation, and LTE is for Long Term Evolution (a specific type of 4g).