Instead of taking a slow and steady approach to rolling out 4G LTE, US Cellular wants its customers using the faster technology as soon as possible. The carrier unveiled today that subscribers in over 3,600 cities across America will soon be blanketed in 4G speeds, which US Cellular claims is up to 10 times faster than 3G.
The rollout will come to select cities in Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Some of the cities throughout these states affected by the rollout includes Rockford, Peoria, Columbia, Jefferson City, Manchester, Wilmington, Jacksonville, Tulsa, Medford, Knoxville, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Yakima, the Tri-Cities, Morgantown, LaCrosse, and Beloit.
Should these areas get LTE coverage by the end of 2012 as slated, 54 percent of all US Cellular customers will have received 4G.
The two big kids on the carrier playground — Verizon Wireless and AT&T — announced an expansion of their 4G LTE network just yesterday. Verizon 4G is headed to Rapid City, South Dakota and AT&T 4G moves into Durham, North Carolina. Verizon and AT&T announce new areas as they move along instead of planning ahead; that would explain the comparison of just two cities versus 3,600.
In somewhat similar news, US Cellular also announced that the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot will come bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S Aviator starting in the spring. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be the first 4G-compatible device sold by US Cellular starting next month and many other smartphones and a modem will join it in 2012 to complete US Cellular’s 4G lineup.