The specifications for high-speed mobile broadband technology that is apparently 500 times faster than 3G smartphones have been approved this week at the ITU Radiocommunication Assembly in Geneva.

IMT-Advanced, which includes the LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced standards, will deliver "a much higher quality and a much higher bit rate, typically of the order of 100 megabits per second."

“This means absolutely no time to get a page open,” claims Francois Rance, head of the agency’s radiaocommuication bureau, referring to the wait users currently experience between clicking on a web page and waiting for it to load up. Rancey says that speeds will be so fast that a web page will open in less than 10ms, and users will be able to stream high-definition video at very high bitrates.

 “IMT-Advanced would be like putting a fibre optic broadband connection on your mobile phone, making your phone at least 500 times faster than today’s 3G smart phones," explains Rancy. “But it’s not only about speed; it’s about efficiency. IMT-Advanced will use radio-frequency spectrum much more efficiently making higher data transfers possible on lesser bandwidth. This will enable mobile networks to face the dramatic increase in data traffic that is expected in the coming years”

The first influx of 4G devices are expected to land in 2012, with “true” 4G, most likely to be called “5G” by mobile operators, isn’t expected to be available for a least a couple of years.