The iPhone 3G should never have been called that and Apple should not be touting the latest iterations of the devices as "4G".

They are meaningless terms in so many real world situations.

I can have a xG phone near a compatible tower and the right chip set and it might get advertised speeds, or the network might be congested.

I can have a xG phone in the desert and get nothing.

I can have a xG phone with the wrong chip set for where I am.

I can have a xG phone but the carrier roaming charges are astronomical because I'm overseas.

It's a difficult problem (obviously), but I want an always connected everywhere phone with transparent and reasonable (!=cheap) pricing for data.

I don't want fast mobile if I stand on one foot near the right mobile tower in the right country. I want reliable connectivity.

Imagine if you were sold a 60 watt lightbulb for your home and it flickered, was dim or completely dark. It's not the bulb, it's the electrical supply you say? Well the bulb is being sold with the electrical supply in nearly all cases. Phone contracts are the bulb and electrical supply rolled into one.

Another unfortunate example of a US company forgetting that there people outside their own borders with different constraints and requirements.

I'd rather Apple just gave a boat load of money to UK mobile networks to help them upgrade to 4G :)

Apple recently got in trouble in Australia over the same issue[1]. The final outcome of that case is still pending - at least insofar as what Apple is going to have to do about it.

[1] http://www.smh.com.au/business/apple-and-accc-ipad-mediation...

Also, isn't the "4G" it has on AT&T in the US not really 4G though? I mean the faster 3G, not LTE of course.