I don't see where this thread is going.
the fact that 4G is not formally defined is destroying the mobile phone internet forums.
the original question should have stated:
"Can iphone 4S connect to *LTE* once Verizon deploys LTE in my area"
the answer would have been:
"no"
That would have been the end of it. But instead someone brought up that there is no "true 4G" in the US, which follows on with the inevitable "there is no such thing as true 4G, it isn't defined, you're thinking of IMT-Advanced" and so on.
Usually someone brings up that Verizon is using CDMA, and then there's another similar discussion that 3GPP HSPA also uses CDMA and there's nothing inherently inferior about CDMA vs TDMA and in fact both HSPA and EVDO use time division and code division, it's just that EVDO is in 1.25 MHz and HSPA (also called WCDMA) in 5 MHz and that's the real underlying advantage and so on.
The threads then usually touch on the technical aspects of LTE-Advanced vs LTE, and multicarrier HSPA vs regular (rel 5) HSPA, the advantages of bonded carriers in sector throughput vs. using stacked sectors.
Around this time the 700 MHz vs 2500 MHz debate comes up and if better performance can be had inside buildings at 700 MHz in 10 MHz or 2500 MHz in 20 MHz with appropriate process gain.
At some point in there amplifier design for 802.16m vs LTE-Advanced will come up along with associated power considerations.
Then the thread will shut down. A few days or weeks later someone will use the term 4G again and the whole thing will start over.
That's where it's going. It's part of internet life.