DailyTech - Verizon's LTE Keeps Rolling

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Gadgets Verizon's LTE Keeps Rolling
Mark Kurlyandchik - March 23, 2011 9:35 AM

18 comment(s) - last by mars2k.. on Mar 24 at 11:31 AM

Will be available in nearly 150 U.S. cities by year's end

While many are hoping the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile will mean a quicker LTE roll-out for that company, Verizon continues to blaze the 4G trail.

Verizon Wireless announced yesterday that an additional 59 markets will see the company's high-speed LTE network by year's end, bringing the total to 147 U.S. cities.

"Aggressively expanding this powerful network beyond major metro areas reflects the reality that the 4G LTE ecosystem is growing quickly," David Small, chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless, said in a press release. "Our commitment to reach deep into medium-sized cities and smaller communities by the end of 2011 means the power of 4G LTE can be harnessed and provide advanced services to law enforcement, healthcare workers, educators, and other professionals, as well as to individual consumers, sooner than many thought possible."

Verizon launched the HTC Thunderbolt, the first LTE smartphone on the network, last week. And the current number one wireless provider in the United States is working with rural companies "to collaboratively build and operate a 4G network in those areas using the tower and backhaul assets of the rural company and Verizon Wireless’ core 4G LTE equipment and premium 700 MHz spectrum."

Verizon's LTE network is already available to 110 million people across 40 metropolitan areas, covering swaths of Florida, California, New York, Texas, and Ohio, as well as Phoenix, Denver, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Seattle, and others.

For a full list of areas to be covered by year's end, check out the press release.

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RE: I'm tired of corporations...

By TheRequiem on 3/23/2011 1:38:29 PM , Rating: 0

This couldn't be farther from the truth, they actually create monolpolies and control the pricing of their aterial, how does this bring down prices? Free enterprise and private industries with healthy competition brign down prices NOT corporations!!

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RE: I'm tired of corporations...

By FITCamaro on 3/23/2011 1:52:26 PM , Rating: 2

Because 10,000 mom and pop operations all working together are going to provide nationwide phone and internet coverage like Verizon does right?

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RE: I'm tired of corporations...

By The Insolent One on 3/23/2011 3:08:32 PM , Rating: 1

When you're given a regional franchise, a guarantee that you are the sole operator of a particular piece of infrastructure, that's as close to being given a money tree as possible.

If 10,000 mom and pop operations were able to compete to build-out infrastructure for their local village, and provide service, we would have 9,999 more opportunities for innovation and pushing the envelope. True the scale for each wouldn't be there, but our country got here on the backs of the mom and pop, not on oligopolies or monopolies.

I can guarantee that the customer service would be better and the money earned would be spent and returned to the local area rather than thousands of miles away.

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RE: I'm tired of corporations...

By smackababy on 3/23/2011 4:22:12 PM , Rating: 2

And who is going to pay for this to be built? Mom and Pop operations don't get investors backing them for the (almost certainly very good) chance at profits.

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RE: I'm tired of corporations...

By DanNeely on 3/23/2011 4:37:33 PM , Rating: 2

That's especially true for buildout beyond the most built up areas. A mom and pop cell company in NYC wouldn't have any problems getting enough customers signed up. One based in a sparsely populated area along an interstate would have major problems doing so, despite being in a medium priority area for a national carrier (lots of customers drive through the area). One in a sparsely populated area away from a major highway would be even more hopeless, while the major networks put a lot of money into expanding into these areas because 'biggest network' is a valuable asset for marketing ("well I might be in one of those places sometime"). You'd also have a huge amount of administrative overhead due to most calls being roaming driving up costs all around.

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