33% of iPhone owners think their phones already have 4G service

With Verizon rolling out its advanced 4G LTE network, and AT&T deploying a similar 4G system, you'd think that these faster 4G services would be something iPhone owners are clamoring for. Not true, at least according to a survey from Retrevo.

The consumer research firm says that 1/3 of iPhone owners actually think their phones are already on a 4G network, even though, as we all know, Apple isn't offering a 4G capable phone yet. Maybe it's the fact that the latest iPhone is called the iPhone 4, but the Retrevo study indicates Blackberry owners are also confused, or at least 24% of them are.

Of the smartphone owners who know what 4G is, 1/3 think it is too expensive. Another interesting data point is that 61% of iPhone owners don't care if their next Apple phone has 4G service or not.

It looks like marketing departments will have their work cut out for them trying to explain (and then of course sell) this service to consumers. Congress is watching this very closely, and there is a move to force service providers to spell out the differences in services and the fees associated with them. A survey result like this shows that consumers are definitely confused about exactly what services they do and don't have.

The Retrevo survey had a sample size of more than 1,000 consumers in June of this year.