Do you really need a 4G LTE phone?

Well, if you care at all about download speeds and are currently in the market for a new phone, then you should definitely consider getting an LTE cell phone.  Here’s why…

Considering that most major U.S. and International wireless carriers are jumping on the LTE bandwagon, you might as well do the same if you are in the market for a new cell phone, your contract is up, or you are just frustrated with current download speeds.

Here in the U.S., Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Metro PCS, and U.S. Cellular have all committed to LTE as their 4G technology of choice, with Verizon Wireless currently in the lead having covered 115 cities and over 160 million people as of August 2011.

T-Mobile decided to stick it out with a different technology called HSPA, but then again they are hoping to be bought out by AT&T so why add infrastructure costs at this time.

As for Sprint, they use Clearwire WiMAX as their 4G technology, but recently started talking about deploying LTE in a joint venture with LightSquared^tm.

So if it sounds like LTE is taking over, that’s because it is. So if faster browsing or streaming videos and music is your thing, then LTE is for you. But if you just care about making phone calls and texting, then any technology will do.