o Support for interactive multimedia, voice, streaming video, Internet, and other broadband services
o IP based mobile system
o High speed, high capacity, and low cost per bit
o Global access, service portability, and scalable mobile services
o Seamless switching, and a variety of Quality of Service driven services
o Better scheduling and call admission control techniques
o Ad hoc and multi hop networks (the strict delay requirements of voice make multi hop network service a difficult problem)
o Better spectral efficiency
o Seamless network of multiple protocols and air interfaces (since 4G will be all ]IP, look for 4G systems to be compatible with all common network technologies, including802.11, WCDMA, Blue tooth, and Hyper LAN).
o An infrastructure to handle pre existing 3G systems along with other wireless technologies, some of which are currently under development.

4G technologies are significant because users joining the network add mobile routers to the network infrastructure. Because users carry much of the network with them, network capacity and coverage is dynamically shifted to accommodate changing user patterns. As people congregate and create pockets of high demand, they also create additional routes for each other, thus enabling additional access to network capacity. Users will automatically hop away from congested routes to less congested routes. This permits the network to dynamically and automatically self-balance capacity, and increase network utilization. What may not be obvious is that when user devices act as routers, these devices are actually part of the network infrastructure. So instead of carriers subsidizing the cost of user devices (e.g., handsets, PDAs, of laptop computers), consumers actually subsidize and help deploy the network for the carrier. With a cellular infrastructure, users contribute nothing to the network. They are just consumers competing for resources. But in wireless ad hoc peer-to-peer networks, users cooperate - rather than compete - for network resources. Thus, as the service gains popularity and the number of users increases, service likewise improves for all users. And there is also the 80/20 rules.

With traditional wireless networks, about 80% of the cost is for site acquisition and installation, and just 20% is for the technology. Rising land and labor costs means installation costs tend to rise over time, subjecting the service providers 7 business models to some challenging issues in the out years. With wireless peer-to-peer networking, however, about 80% of the cost is the technology and only 20% is the installation. Because technology costs tend to decline over time, a current viable business model should only become more profitable over time. The devices will get cheaper, and service providers will reach economies of scale sooner because they will be able to pass on the infrastructure savings to consumers, which will further increase the rate of penetration.