Verizon has just announced that they’ve launched LTE in Detroit Rock City. This is an important announcement because it’s the first time Verizon has officially said anything about coverage expanding on their brand spanking new 4G LTE wireless network. “Our advanced technology is changing the way we all work and play. Today, it gives us the ability to move large files faster and soon enjoy smooth mobile video conferencing. But, this is only the beginning. It’s not about what 4G can do for you. Rather, it’s about what do you want or need it to do?” says John Granby from Verizon Wireless, who fails to see how video conferencing will most likely kill your 5 GB data plan in just a matter of minutes. Only 80% of Detroit is covered, but as long as you don’t live in the boondocks in a trailer that you had to buy after General Motors laid you off then you should be fine.
What other 4G options do you have? T-Mobile has HSPA+, which today clocks in at 21 Mbps and will soon, as in next month, be upgraded to 42 Mbps. There are going to be plenty more HSPA+ devices being launched over the course of this year, including modems, and while T-Mobile is guilty of not meaning “unlimited” when they say “unlimited”, users are reporting that after they churn through 10 GB then they get their download speeds capped until their next billing cycle. That’s a lot better than paying per MB for overage.
Then there is Sprint with WiMAX … it’s decent, really is unlimited, and coverage is going up each and every day, but the speeds just don’t stack up the competition. That’s going to change when/if Sprint rolls out LTE, but that’s not going to happen until a much later date.