It looks like Verizon is ready to double down on the 4G LTE rollout and continue leaving AT&T in the dust. In some recent comments detailed by the Wall Street Journal Verizon is aiming to release nothing but 4G LTE capable smartphones in 2012 in hopes of enticing customers on-board. That and they want to double their numbers from last year’s impressive launch.
Last year Verizon unveiled the HTC ThunderBolt at CES and quickly launched their next-gen 4G LTE network ahead of AT&T and the others. They quickly reached, and passed their goal for 2011 of 185 LTE capable markets and currently sit at over 200 today. Going on to mention that they will continue updating and rolling out 4G LTE to markets across the US at the extremely fast pace they have been, and expect to double their numbers to 400 markets by years end. With AT&T sitting around 20 or so, I have a feeling Verizon is pretty comfortable. Here is what David Small, Verizon CTO had to say on the matter.
By the end of the year, our plan is to be in at least 400 markets across the country, up from about 200 today. Alaska will be the only state without 4G LTE service before 2013.
Hopefully Alaska gets it before then, but that comment isn’t promising for those in the depths of the great outdoors. While Verizon 4G LTE is growing fast and they’ve released tons of capable phones — only 5% of their subscribers currently use 4G LTE. That is probably in part due to tons of BlackBerry and iPhones using the older, outdated 3G technology. Not to mention LTE being barely a year old consumer-wise, and many haven’t upgraded because they are still locked into their 2-year contracts.
According to the WSJ, in regards to smartphones Verizon will only be announcing LTE capable devices for the duration of 2012. This means that even budget friendly devices will all be LTE powered. Sounds good if you ask me.
Maybe Verizon needs to let users upgrade 6-8 months early to a 4G LTE smartphone, that would help speed up the process don’t you think? Do you rock a 4G LTE smartphone by Verizon, and if so, do you use it 24/7 or simply toggle 3G/4G as needed?
[via Droid-Life]
I have a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and I love it. I keep LTE on 100% of the time. So long as I have a good connection, it really doesn’t drain my battery too much. I generally get between 10-12 hours of battery life, which is comparable to my old Motorola Droid. On a good day I can even get 18-24 hours, but I am a heavy user so I typically kill the battery by keeping the screen on a lot.
There is a good deal on a 3800 MAH extended battery:
http://tinyurl.com/7q3c6n5
Honestly the service in the northernmost part of DFW is not that great. I have contacted Verizon concerning this and was told it was due to “tower interference”. My phone will toggle itself and since the 4g LTE is not as readily available as they try to say it is, when I’m at home or work it’s usually on the the 3g as a result…. thanks Verizon?
Riggghhht…. Is that why the Vzw suits in my area keep saying we’ll have LTE at the soonest for my area in Q4 2014? Not a small or rural area either, not much more than 50 miles outside of San Fran with HP, Agilent among other big companies in the area.
Though, it’s hilarious to listen to vzw sales guys try to push LTE phones. “No, you can’t use it here at home. But, if you go to or move to San Fran you can. You must buy this phone!”
Why wouldn’t you get it anyways. You would then have lte when it does come out in your area and your 4g phone will work on 3g until then. Makes sense to me.
Two things:
1. Highlighting and pushing a phone based on a feature that is unavailable is a poor sales tactic. I’ve been in tech and sales through most of my 20’s and 30’s, selling tech based on what the average Joe Public will see as a broken feature unless they move or travel is a poor sales tactic.
2. Your 2 year contract on an 4G LTE phone that can’t use 4G LTE will be over before 4G LTE is available. By then you”l be on a new phone or a new carrier probably when “5G” is going live.
Of course, this could all change if Verizon truly does step up their game like T-Mobile did in our area with HSPA+. It was live here before San Fran got it. My GS2 on T-Mo gets 8-9Mbs dl speeds while my vzw Galaxy Nexus gets 300kpbs.
I have the Droid RAZR 4G LTE but am not really happy with it. 4G is nice, but not readily available. This is a pretty crap phone when running on 3G. Thinking about returning to iPhone, but what can I say, I fell for the sales pitch