Verizon may be rolling out its 4G LTE network at an alarming rate, but today AT&T is showing us that it can play ball too. The company announced today that it doubled the size of its 4G LTE network during 2012, and the year isn’t over yet. AT&T will continue rolling out 4G LTE through the end of the year and into 2013, so AT&T customers are only going to see their coverage get better.
In its announcement, AT&T said that it plans to cover 250 million people with its 4G LTE network by the end 2013. By the time the end of 2014 rolls around, that number will be up to 300 million, so the roll out should be mostly complete by then. By comparison, Verizon says that it should be finished with its 4G LTE roll out by the middle of 2013.
So no, AT&T isn’t going to beat Verizon to the punch, but it won’t be too far behind. Both companies launched 4G LTE in new markets earlier this week, with AT&T in particular hitting some big areas. AT&T said today that it now has 4G LTE in 103 markets, but considering how enthusiastic AT&T is about this roll out, don’t expect that number to stay the same for long.
Of course, with AT&T currently ahead of schedule, it’s certainly possible that it’ll reach its goal for 2013 well before 2013 actually ends. We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s definitely an exciting time to be an AT&T customer (depending on where you live, that is). Are you living in one of the areas that recently received AT&T 4G LTE service?
Wow! AT&T “doubled” its market in 2012. Moving from “extremely limited” to “limited”.
Going from 50 cities to 100.
I guess you could say Sprint also “doubled or tripled” its market. From 20 cities to 60 cities.
When Verizon is already at 450 markets… and growing faster.