4G network planned by 2011 from AT&T

It seems like just yesterday when the original iPhone on the EDGE network was released, then about a year later the iPhone 3G was released with their “faster network”. Well AT&T has announced their plans for a new 4G network, yes 4G. Yesterday at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, AT&T announced an official timeline for the rollout of their next-generation 4G network, which will be up and running in 2011. The new LTE network will be capable of more than five times the speed of HSPA+. Speculation is that the announcement of the new network reflects a desire to provide a wider range of services, like VoIP, mobile gaming and video calls. My question is, why plan to release a 4G network when AT&T’s 3G network, and 3G networks around the world, still need a lot of work before they’re fully functional?

-Ray

[Source: AT&T]