Verizon: 4G LTE high-speed network to be in 38 cities by year-end
Verizon Wireless said Wednesday it will launch a high-speed Internet network in 38 metropolitan areas by the end of the year, a major upgrade to mobile phone service that allows users to watch videos and play games with nearly the same quality as over their home networks.
Verizon, the nation's biggest wireless service provider, said its service will be available in cities such as Seattle, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Verizon joins Clear (formerly Clearwire) in bringing mobile broadband connections to consumers. AT&T is expected to quickly follow suit with its own LTE network.
Connections will be 5 to 12 megabits per second on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink, the company said. Verizon Communications President Lowell McAdam said the firm plans to have its network covering two-thirds of the population in 18 months and nearly the entire U.S. population by 2013.
Competition for the next generation of mobile broadband users is fierce and getting to users first has been a priority. In statistics released Wednesday, trade group CTIA-The Wireless Association said data use over phones exploded over the past year, up 50 percent in June 2010 from June 2009. And as more consumers want to use their tablets, laptops and cellphones for computing, wireless operators are racing to provide services.
Geographies:
The 4G LTE network will be available in airports for 38 metropolitan areas by the end of the year.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE average data speeds are significantly faster than Verizon Wireless and other providers’ current or promised 3G network speeds.
By leveraging its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE deployment in the United States, Verizon Wireless is capable of quickly deploying a high-quality wireless broadband network with excellent coverage. The company is installing LTE equipment at existing cell sites and switching centers around the United States as part of its extensive, ongoing investment in its voice and data network infrastructure.
In addition to the 38 major metropolitan areas, Verizon Wireless is launching its 4G LTE network in West Lafayette, Ind., home of Purdue University. The public university is using several innovative software applications on Verizon Wireless’s 3G network that improve student engagement and success, and Verizon Wireless is working with Purdue to explore the next phase of how 4G LTE technology can improve e-learning across the nation.
Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about the company's 4G LTE network.
Read after the jump for the metropolitan areas and airports that will receive the service first.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE initial major metropolitan deployment:
Initial commercial airport deployment (airport name, city)
By
Cecilia Kang
| October 6, 2010; 2:30 PM ET
Categories:
Broadband, Clearwire, Verizon
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The website for Verizon's 4g service is
www.verizonwireless.com/4g ,
not /lte as listed in the article.
Posted by: BobPullar | October 6, 2010 3:21 PM | Report abuse
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