By While other carriers are still attempting to reach the milestone of 100 markets with 4G LTE, Verizon is already on its way to completing its network. Big Red’s original estimation was that the company would complete its aggressive 4G LTE rollout by the end of 2013. “Complete” would be pretty much blanketing its current 3G coverage (hint: it’s a lot) with 4G.
That in itself was an ambitious goal, but it seems Verizon is doing so well that the company may have underestimated its own capabilities. Fran Shammo, Verizon’s CFO, spoke to media this morning and told everyone that the company is now aiming to complete the network by mid-2013.
If we assume a 12 month scale from January 1st, 2013 on Big Red’s original goal, then that means a whole half a year has been shaved off the end of Verizon’s timeline. It’s an impressive feat for the carrier to be able to stretch its expectations when most companies would likely face delays of varying lengths. Verizon’s coffers are filled to the brim, though, and they’re throwing a crap ton of money at advancing its network.
The focus on building its 4G LTE network out in a timely fashion is important because the company has committed to putting 4G LTE inside all its smartphones and tablets from the beginning of 2012. Sprint and AT&T seem to be doing the same in that regard, and while their rollout efforts are admirable it doesn’t seem like anyone will be able to catch up to Verizon at this break-neck pace.
[via Fierce Wireless]
This is why I love Verizon, they are working on finishing their rollout of 4g lte whie AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile are just getting started
T-Mobile hasn’t even started their rollout yet….I just hope that they do the same when its time to upgrade to LTE Advance or to have it completed even faster…
Yea. I hope they go with their HSPA+ plan, though. I lyk that better. They were suppose to have HSPA+ 84. My gosh.
But T-Mobile is rolling out LTE-advanced. Should be a much better experience and will probably make Verizon’s network feel dated.
heh TFumble. Yeah.. advanced network for the 500,000 people it’ll service. What a joke.
so you think verizon is just going to stop upgrading their service in mid 2013? honestly what do you think is next? It’s called Long Term Evolution for a reason. Verizon will just blanket over their coverage map again with LTE advance and still beat out TMO.
I think it remains to be seen. It’s fun to say mine is better than yours…but it may well turn out that tmo will end up having a faster network than vzw…then vzw may well end up beating tmo after that. Bottom line tho, is it ends up being great for all of us…that’s what competition does.
I WILL say that if tmo keeps their relatively cheaper service, then they will eventually beat vzw all things considered,imo.
its not like im a vzw fanboy. I hate the crap they give me what with locking bootloaders, bloatware, crazy pricing, updates, and releasing phones months after other carriers. But they have the best coverage. I would love to go to TMo because they might arguably provide a better experience at a better price, but until they widen their coverage maps it’s useless to me. Maybe if I lived like in NYC or some other 4g center. Fact of the matter is vzw has better infrastructure right now to continue to grow and advance their network as LTE tech gets better.
Um… What about those areas where there isn’t any LTE? You’d be stuck using .5Mb 3G speeds while on Tmo if you don’t have LTE, you’d fall back on HSPA+.
I so rather prefer that than what Verizon is doing. Though knowing Verizon, I’m sure that won’t be a problem.
But I rather stick with a non-battery draining HSPA+ rather than LTE. 10Mb is fast enough for me at least.
Doubtful. Being first to a new technology isn’t always a good thing.
Your argument is like saying once T-Mobile blankets it’s coverage map with HSPA+ 42 wouldn’t at&t do the same? No, they didn’t. A big reason for this is because T-Mobile got UMTS/HSPA late in the game compared to at&t. Because of this, they got the latest and greatest equipment that was very cheap for them to upgrade to DC-HSPA+. As of right now, the vast majority of at&t’s network is 1st gen HSPA+ 14 and they decided it would stay that way because it wasn’t worth the expense for them to upgrade it. There are more HSPA+ 42 areas than at&t LTE areas.
We could see the same thing with Verizon where because their equipment is the oldest it would cost the same as building out the network all over again and not worth it to them.
Secondly, with T-Mobile buying MetroPCS their LTE network will be 20x20mhz meaning it will be more denser and provide better performance. In some markets it will be even denser than that. That’s something Verizon will never achieve with their network no matter how much money they throw at it unless they get a hold of MORE spectrum which is hard for them already considering how big they are.
you think Verizon is going to sit on the AWS bandwidth they are getting from the cable companies? That deal left them so flush that they are selling leftovers in the 700 band to other companies (I seem to recall one deal is already been done with T-mobile pending the close of the AWS deal.)
The number 1 reason I stick with Verizon.
Does that mean that where ever I get 3g I’ll be getting 4g…that sounds sweeeeeet…This is why I have stuck with vzw all this time, not to mention the unlimited data plan that I still have…
Doubt it,
it just said in the article “pretty much blanketing its 3g area with 4g”
Well, that’s a claim Verizon made (and continues to promise) so it’s up to whether or not you believe them. I do.
I think there is a difference between having LTE coverage and having every tower LTE. I live and work in VZW LTE areas of NJ. If i watch “my bars” there are lots of towers that still only have 3G but not LTE. Pretty much everywhere around me I get “full bars” on 3g- occasionally one bar less than full. LTE signal strength varies tons. So while there may be a tower that you can access everywhere doesn’t mean every tower will have 4G
Why is everyone calling LTE 4G? It’s not 4G its like 3.5G. Research and find out what real 4G is then you’ll feel ripped off.
LTE 4G. quit crapping in people’s pie.
The ITU redefined 4g to include WiMax, HSPA+ and LTE…therefore the marketing of 4g is justified. and Why would you feel ripped off? The technology you’re refering to isnt out yet.
You speak true, sir. But you may as well be speaking it to a wall because people are going to believe what they want to believe to make themselves feel better (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing).
because constantly saying 3.5G feels stupid. Let’s just call this 4g, then we can just label 5g as whatever it is you consider to be 4g. Problem solved, everybody wins.
Actually, it’s more related to this. In order for a network to be considered 4G, it has to support both CDMA and GSM on the same network. It’s something lyk that. So based on the old methods, 4G could never exist. Sprint was the closest when they wanted to buy Tmo.
So in retrospect, we weren’t even close to actually have true 4G. And since Verizon doesn’t plan on having a GSM network, I’m sure we wouldn’t ever have it. This is probably why the ITU had to redefine what 4G meant.
And while you’re talking, 3G wasn’t really 3G. You think .5Mbps speeds was 3G? Ha!! No. Think again. You were already being duped. LoL!! Tmo and AT&T has 3G. Verizon and Sprint just lies and call their 2G speed network 3G. Stupid Sprint with their slow 3G speeds. Grr!!
The LTE in VZW devices is GSM.
Wholly guacamole!! Well it looks lyk Verizon is indeed ahead of their game.
Goog doesn’t like LTE.
Because there are too many LTE frequencies world wide. It is easier to stick with HSPA+ where there is a more common band for it.
Goog needs to get with the program. I’m never buying a nexus thats only going to give me 1 mbps speeds for its entire life span.
I have to sadly report, that my LTE speeds have dwindled the last 6 months. I used to get an average of 15Mbps, now my average has dropped to 8Mbps. Over saturated network.
The problem is LTE networks in the US are STILL relatively empty networks. I think we’ll see those speeds fall even a little further.
We only get 2-5 Mbps here on the space coast with Verizon LTE.
And yet AT&T is STILL WAY BEHIND on Verizon lighting up LTE service which sucks for us thats on AT&T
Great. I expect my 5G by 2014. Do it Verizon!
4G sucks, no it sucks battery life at a alarming rate, batteries get PPS (percentages per second) drain. Fast but sucks!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a difference between making the 4GLTE icon light up on the handset and having reliable coverage. My 4G service has gotten worse with each new market rollout. I hope they fix their network after they finish their deployment.