With operators scrambling to roll out their network updates, new devices hitting the market and next-generation marketing sharply increasing, 4G in 2011 is proving to be a hectic and crowded arena.  However, a new report indicates that although the state of the market will be determined by company positioning in 2011, it will be a slow start, and that in that year there will be few 4G profits as such.

According to the report ‘4G Fuels the Decade of Disruption', by the Yankee Group, there will be extensive disruption in the telecom sector caused by mobile connectivity, and 4G is set to have a profound impact, according to the report's co-author Jason Armitage.

The predictions mentioned in the report include LTE enhanced 4G technology accounting for a negligible part of the market by 2011.  Few decision-makers believe that by the end of 2011, 4G will be important, and 4G subscriptions will fall as users favour the simplicity and savings of hotspots. 

A 4G marketing mess is predicted in the US as the term is used for practically everything and consumers become confused and as corners are cut on security in order to rush rollouts, 4G networks will come down because of hacker attacks.

The report also predicts that established players in the wider world will succumb to Chinese vendors such as ZTE and Huawei, and that companies investing mostly in free rich media will obtain most benefit as 4G users spend more time on the mobile Web.