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By Rob Garretson
After completing technical testing in Seattle and Boston, Verizon Wireless is moving closer to the commercial launch of its 4G LTE network, conducting "friendly user" trials in five unnamed cities and keeping several steps ahead of rival AT&T in boosting wireless data speeds.
Verizon's technical trials of LTE, or Long Term Evolution, in Boston and Seattle have demonstrated average data speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps for downloads and 2 to 5 Mbps for uploads, according to Verizon. The user trials, conducted with employees and partners rather than customers, give Verizon a roughly 12 to 18 month lead in deploying the so-called 4G technology over AT&T, which recently said it is focusing on boosting speeds on its existing 3G network with interim upgrades to HSPA+ technology. AT&T will not begin deploying and testing its LTE 4G network until 2011.
Verizon officials disclosed the start of user testing in a conference call with hardware and software partners to detail its $1 billion wireless investment in Indiana. During the call they affirmed plans to roll out LTE in 25 to 30 markets, including New York, covering 100 million people by year-end. They did not identify the additional user test markets, but added that Verizon's goal is to have LTE deployed across its entire network by 2013.
Verizon has previously said it plans to demonstrate a variety of LTE devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and have as many as five LTE handsets on the market by next May. "There's no reason we couldn't have an iPad," Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said last month, adding that the first tablets will be Android devices from companies such as Motorola, Samsung and LG.
Motorola, HTC Corp, LG and Research In Motion could be among the first to offer LTE-compatible phones, he said.
In an attempt to maintain its self-proclaimed lead in mobile broadband performance, AT&T will invest "$19 billion this year, more than any company in the U.S." in upgrading its network, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC last week in response to criticism that its network performance suffers in key markets, such as New York and San Francisco.
To help minimize the impact of heavy data usage on its network, AT&T earlier this month announced an end to its unlimited data plans for the iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices, a move that Verizon is now indicating that it will mimic.
"We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate," Verizon Communications CFO John Killian told Bloomberg last week. As it deploys the LTE network and more capable smartphones, Verizon anticipates "explosions in data traffic," he said.
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