By John Wilson

The new 4G networks being rolled out across the United States can make those in the mobile industry feel like pioneers embarking on an uncertain journey; a journey fraught with peril but a journey with the promise of even grater reward at the end of the trail.

With data demand skyrocketing and a technological cold war brewing between competing 4G standards, it can be a confusing time for consumers and service providers alike. Mobile phone and wireless broadband provider T-Mobile has launched an aggressive marketing campaign in an attempt to bring consumers onto their 4G path through the wilderness.

Pipeline talked with a T-Mobile spokesperson about the trials and rewards involved in rolling out a new 4G network.

Pipeline:

Recently, there's been a lot of press covering the supposed fight to the death between HSPA+, LTE, and WiMAX; is this a VHS vs. Betamax situation, or can these technologies peacefully coexist?

T-Mobile:

We believe that we’ll compete very effectively vs. other 4G technologies today and going forward. Today our HSPA+ network offers 4G service to more people than any other wireless network in the country.

HSPA+ also has a rich evolutionary path to faster speeds and a strong global ecosystem advantage over competing 4G technologies, which ultimately means a better selection of 4G devices and a better 4G experience for T-Mobile customers.

We are in a great competitive position because of the breadth and speed of our 4G service as well as our strong line-up of 4G devices today and coming this year. T-Mobile plans to launch at least 25 4G devices this year. When you look at the evolutionary path for HSPA+, there's an opportunity to upgrade the network to even faster speeds delivering 84 Mbps or even 168 Mbps which enables us to keep pace with LTE over time.

We are more than prepared to meet the wireless data demand of consumers and are focused on fueling the adoption of mobile data for all by continuing to offer innovative and affordable smartphones and tablets, as well as aggressive data plan pricing, and rich and compelling data services.

Pipeline:

With data demand increasing, what steps are you taking to avoid the "capacity crunch"?

T-Mobile:

There's a host of ways to tackle the growth that is coming. We have chosen a technology, HSPA+, that utilizes existing spectrum and infrastructure assets. In 2011, we plan to increase our 4G network's capability even more by offering higher data speeds and network capacity with the deployment of dual carrier HSPA+42 . We are committed to use our spectrum assets wisely. For example, re-farming spectrum is a great opportunity for us as we migrate customers from 2G to the exciting world of 3G and 4G.