Verizon Wireless is unstoppable. After turning on 4G LTE coverage in 26 new markets last week, today they’re announcing that 21 additional markets are going to go live on the 20th of October. See the full list below. Their goal is to be in 175 markets by the end of the year, which is impressive since their network launched in December 2010. AT&T’s 4G LTE network launched just a few days ago and is only live in 5 cities. That number will undoubtedly go up over time, but how fast is the real question.
Speaking about high speed networks, don’t forget about T-Mobile and their 42 Mbps HSPA+ network. We should soon start seeing smartphones that can take full advantage of that, and from the numbers we’ve been getting with T-Mobile’s Rocket 3.0 USB modem, their network can compete with Verizon and AT&T can deliver with 4G LTE. Where Verizon and AT&T have an advantage however is that their 4G LTE networks are in the 700 MHz band, so they need fewer towers to provide the same amount of coverage that T-Mobile has to deliver on the AWS (1700 MHz/2100 MHz) band. There’s also Sprint, who is going to announce what they’ve been working on behind closed doors in October. We know it’s going to be LTE, but when will the first products be available for customers and how much will they charge for data are things we have to wait to hear about.
Anyway, keep track of your consumption, because with 4G LTE you’re going to hit your data cap in no time!
New Markets: Green Bay, WI; Bloomington, IN; Bedford, IN; Mitchell, IN; Evansville, IN; Birmingham, AL; Albuquerque, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Terre Haute, IN; South Bend, IN; Mishawaka, IN; Elkhart, IN; Goshen, IN; Sioux City, IA; Buffalo, NY; Niagara, NY; Modesto, CA; Stockton, CA
Expanded markets: Greater Erie, PA; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA