We know that Verizon is in the middle of its 4G rollout based on Long-Term Evolution technology but a few of its private beta speeds tests are showing that it will be delivering some blazing-fast mobile data speeds.
The largest U.S. carrier is privately testing its 4G LTE network with a few beta users and the carrier has promised speeds between 6 to 12 Mbps in real life. That’s much, much faster than current 3G networks but LTE can theoretically get up to 50 or more.
Electronista found a posted screen shot of a potential Verizon 4G LTE user getting nearly 28 Mbps down and a little more than 5 Mbps up. We’re not going to expect that out of the gates but even burst speeds of that type on the go would radically change what’s possible with these types of mobile devices.
Over at DSL Reports, another 4G LTE beta user posted a screen shot of nearly 13 Mbps down and more than 4 Mbps up.
Sprint is the only other major carrier offering 4G services but its next-generation network is built on WiMax technology. This has been delivering real-world speeds of about 4-8 Mbps, with burst speeds of more than 10.
AT&T said it will deploy its LTE 4G network in mid-2011 and I’d expect this to deliver similar speeds as the Verizon network. The company is just about finished bolstering its 7.2 HSPA upgrade to its 3G network.
T-Mobile is sort of a wild card in this picture as it will be sticking with 3G for the foreseeable future but that doesn’t mean it will be lacking speed. The fourth-largest U.S. carrier is using HSPA+ technology to speed up its 3G network and this can deliver up to 21. We’ve seen footage of the G2 on HSPA+ and that bad boy just flies.
[Via Electronista]