Your move, Verizon
Verizon was all about 4G LTE at CES 2011 and with the recent release of the LTE-capable HTC Thunderbolt, we expect Big Red to keep hammering home its next-generation mobile data network at CTIA. Will it be enough in the new competitive landscape?
The Verizon 4G LTE network is live in 39 cities and I’m actually using it right now to write this near the pool. It works pretty darn well and the Thunderbolt should just be the first smartphone we see that uses the next-generation mobile data network, as we should hear more about the LG Revolution and the no-named Samsung device we saw at CES. I’m also looking forward to hearing a solid release date for the Droid Bionic, as well as some more tablets and phones that can use this.
Even if the AT&T-Mobile deal goes through, the new carrier will use the T-Mobile AWS spectrum to deploy LTE. The deal will take a while to close and deploying LTE will take even longer, so Verizon will have a comfortable lead with its 4G LTE network for at least a year or so.
I don’t know how vigorously Verizon will complain about the AT&T-Mobile deal, as it used the Alltel acquisition to vault ahead of AT&T in subscribers and I believe Big Red thinks its 4G LTE network strategy will be enough to close the gap in the future. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Verizon at the show.