Basic 4G question re: 4G smartphones

[jairzinho]

I'm thinking about upgrading to the Droid Charge, but I have a question regarding functionality of 4G.

What happens if you have a 4G phone, and you're in a city not covered by 4G?

Is data transfer completely shut down?  Does it automatically switch to 3G, or do you have to tell the phone to use whatever's available?  

Thanks for the help.

[Synycalwon · Accepted solution]

It will just use the 3G service. I have the HTC Thunderbolt and my area doesn't have 4G LTE yet and it's always on 3G service. Recently when I went on vacation to an area that did have 4G LTE, it switched to that on its own. The speeds are unbelievable, faster than my home DSL 6mb service. My area is scheduled to get 4G LTE this year, needless to say, can't wait! Anyway, these phones will automatically switch to whatever service is available in the area you're in. They will do this depending on the signal strength as well.