While many people have been focussing on the AT&T/T-Mobile elephant in the room here at CTIA Wireless Dan Mead, the CEO of Verizon Wireless, expressed a lack of concern over the merger and emphasized Verizon’s continued focus on advancing their network to LTE.
I liked hearing Mead say that because I think the best thing for consumers right now is for the operators to continue on their path to 4G LTE and not get distracted. Both Verizon and AT&T have committed to have nationwide 4G LTE coverage by 2013. This week at CTIA we’re seeing new handsets that are 4G capable and they are truly FAST. The download speeds are 10 times faster than its existing 3G network. So for everyone who increasingly wants to stream movies, TV and videos, download movies, upload photos, conduct business, and more – 4G is really a necessity at this point.
At CTIA, Verizon said that they would take LTE to an additional 59 new areas, taking their total to 147 markets by the end of 2011. More info about their 4G coverage and expansion plans can be found over at Light Reading in a great article from Sarah Reedy.
Verizon are far from being alone in pushing LTE as reflected in the recent statement from Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO.
“This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation’s future. It will improve network quality, and it will bring advanced LTE capabilities to more than 294 million people,” (As reported by LTE World).
We are going to pay close attention over the next months as more handsets are released, more areas are covered by 4G LTE, and the potential merger moves forward. As news develops, watch for us to delve a little more into the different components of LTE that work together to give consumers better service and faster speeds, and how Verizon is using Gemalto’s UICC and OTA platform for their own LTE implementation.
To see our solutions for LTE pop by the stand (#2421) or read an article on 4G from our award-winning magazine The Review.
