My iPhone 5 says 4G instead of LTE?

My friend has an iPhone 5 and he said that 4g is LTE and that he has never had it say 4g, it's either LTE or 3G. Mine says 4g and I'm wondering why it says 4g not LTE

Because 4G and 4G LTE are 2 different things. You're cell phone provider (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.) might not have LTE in your area yet, just regular 4G.

Do you have at&t? If so then your on regular 4G not LTE. If you have sprint or verizon then it should say 3G not 4G cause they don't have 4G they only have LTE.

Depending on your carrier, you may not have LTE available in your area. LTE and 4G are actually different; LTE speeds are faster than 4G.

EDIT: Andrew, I've seen LTE on AT&T. My Galaxy Nexus also jumps between 4G WiMAX, 4G LTE, and 3G depending on coverage where I live in Dallas. Sprint and Verizon have "regular" 4G.

I assume you are on AT&T? AT&T iPhones running on their "4G" network will say 4G. Their 4G though is actually HSPA+. The 4S did this as well.