Feeling the Need for … Longevity (and Speed, Too)
There’s a great scene in the 1987 movie “Good Morning Vietnam” where Robin Williams spouts off a confusing array of military and government acronyms like VP, VC, QT, VIP, MIA, and KP … much to the delight of his friends and to the chagrin of his commanding officer. That scene recently came to mind when AT&T made it official in setting a date for discontinuing its 2G network by the end of 2016.
With that announcement, the question now becomes: “So what will it be? 3G? 4G? HSPA? HSPA+? What about LTE?”
Unfortunately, that’s not nearly as funny as the movie scene because the future of many dealers’ businesses and the alarm industry as a whole depends on properly decoding the answer to those questions.
Over the past several years, millions of 2G alarm radios were installed across the country as end users transitioned away from less-sophisticated analog phone signals. The industry now needs to migrate to the newer technologies while preparing to deal with upgrading its 2G base over the next four years.
So now what?
The conversation shifts completely away from wondering when 2G will die out, to determining the best migration path forward. Most of the discussions had in regards to 3G and 4G technology center on speed, with 4G of course providing better bandwidth for faster service. In fact, 4G is three times faster than 3G technology. The proof of this can be seen in daily life, simply by comparing the functionality of a 3G smartphone with that of a 4G device — anyone who’s done this knows the difference in speed is striking.
But while there is certainly a strong argument to be made for the better functionality provided by the speed of 4G-enabled systems, it’s not the only one. Nor is it the most important. It turns out there’s a far more compelling reason to choose 4G over 3G, one that also can seem far more complicated to explain. But it’s very necessary to wrap your head around it because the fact of the matter is that not everybody is willing to shell out more money for speedier service. They are, however, willing to pay more if it means their technology will last longer.
Taking into account the previous behaviors of the major carriers, the faster networks steadily gain favor, and therefore greater access, over time. What does that mean? Simply put, people who have studied these carriers closely in the past know that the faster network (in this case, 4G) will be supported longer … even if 3G towers remain functional.
Know What Your Radios Support
It’s therefore critical to understand key differences when evaluating alarm radios: As AT&T noted, “As of June 30, 2012, over one-third of our postpaid smartphone subscribers use a 4G-capable device (i.e., a device that would operate on our HSPA+ or Long Term Evolution [LTE] network).” This is a key point, when looking at alarm radios, the most important thing to evaluate is whether they support the HSPA+ network, or stop at HSPA. If the answer is the latter, they’re not 4G.
This leads to another point of confusion that needs to be clarified here: The HSPA+ and HSPA protocols are built on the same fundamental technology. Because of this there are some who argue that it doesn’t matter which type of technology you choose, saying that when one goes away the other inevitably goes with it.
Technically true, but that isn’t where the problem arises.
Again, because HSPA+ is more efficient and faster than HSPA, it is likely that the HSPA+ network will gain priority and greater access. When looking at longevity, this translates into longer trouble-free life of a 4G HSPA+ radio compared to a 3G HSPA radio. And that means there will be a greater risk for an HSPA radio to experience service interruptions, even if the technology is still supported.
The expectation from many customers today is high-speed connectivity of their security systems, as it is aligned with the speed of technology they already use on a day-to-day basis for their tablets, iPhones, etc. This only adds to the pressure dealers face to meet customers’ expectations when it comes to speed and reliability of their networks. Even so, the primary goal should be to provide longevity — with speed as an added benefit — in the move to 4G.
When it comes to good business, it pays to embrace the technology with the longest possible lifespan.
Gordon Hope is General Manager of Honeywell’s AlarmNet communications network.
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