Earlier this week, T-Mobile USA, the fourth largest cell phone operator in the U.S., launched a marketing campaign calling its newly upgraded network "America's Largest 4G Network."

The claim has ruffled more than a few feathers at T-Mobile competitors, namely Sprint Nextel, which has been helping its partner Clearwire build a nationwide network using a technology called WiMax that it claims is 4G.

Verizon Wireless is also building a "4G" network using a different technology called LTE or Long Term Evolution. It plans to launch this network in 38 markets by the end of the year.

So is T-Mobile's network upgrade actually 4G Technically, the answer is no. But it's important to point out that neither is Sprint's nor Verizon's networks.

While current versions of WiMax and LTE are typically referred to in the industry as "4G," they do not actually meet the International Telecommunications Union's strict definition. The ITU, which is an agency within the United Nations, is the international standards body that officially designates wireless technologies as 1G, 2G, 3G and now 4G. Last month, the group certified future implementations of LTE and WiMax as 4G. But it did not certify current implementations of these technologies as 4G.

To be legitimately considered a 4G technology by the ITU, the agency requires the network technology be IP-based and use orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). The other main requirement is that the technology needs to support peak download speeds of 100Mbps. The current flavors of LTE and WiMax are not that fast. And neither does the technology T-Mobile is using, which is called HSPA+.

That said, the network upgrades that all four major wireless carriers have done have made their networks faster. Average 3G services offer between 700Kbps and 1.5Mbps. Sprint's WiMax service, built by Clearwire, offers average download speeds around 6Mbps, the company has said. And Verizon claims that tests indicate it is getting download speeds between 6Mbps and 12Mbps on its pre-commercial LTE network. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network also gives a significant boost with speeds between 3Mbps and 7Mbps.

It should be noted that AT&'T, which plans to test LTE next year, has also upgraded its network to HSPA+. AT&'T is not claiming that its upgrade is 4G. But it is the same technology T-Mobile is using, and it offers the same speedy downloads.

So what does this mean for consumers Well, there is no doubt the marketing terms being thrown around are confusing. First and foremost, consumers should recognize that all four major wireless carriers are in the midst of upgrading their networks, and that all these next generation networks should provide comparable speeds.

But there are a few caveats that consumers should be aware of.

T-Mobile's claims of the "Fastest 4G network in America" come as wireless operators try to one-up each other to win new subscribers. In an era, where U.S. mobile phone penetration is nearly 100 percent, claims of faster networks and hot new devices are what carrier marketing teams use to set themselves apart from the competition.

Previously, operators may have competed on price or network reliability, but today they are competing on speed and cool devices. This trend is largely driven by consumers' appetite for smartphones, which are data hungry devices.

There is no question that wireless operators are playing fast and loose with their marketing claims. And it's likely that the advertising wars will only get noisier, which will make it even more confusing for consumers to decide which device and which carrier is best for them.