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Verizon CFO Fran Shammo recently said "We have more coverage than all of our competitors combined," after giving an update on the company’s 4G LTE buildout that is six months ahead of schedule. It was also mentioned that the company has more spectrum than they need and they’re getting ready for a sale as long as their deal with the cable industry gets regulatory approval. Included in this sale will be spectrum from the 2008 AWS auction and uses 700Mhz in the lower A and B blocks. Shammo says the spectrum sale should happen in the first quarter of 2013 and the company is having "very serious discussions" about the sale of the spectrum. Verizon also mentioned that there are already 64 companies interested in the spectrum.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 13, 2012 - Continuing its aggressive push to deliver an enhanced top-tier network experience for customers, Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today that its 4G LTE network build is progressing in nine additional cities within its nationwide 3G footprint.

Work has begun on the 4G LTE Network in the following additional areas:

• Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn
• Fort Smith, Ark
• Ardmore, Okla
• Oakland/Fremont
• Michigan City
• McAllen/Edinburg
• Hayward, Calif
• La Porte, Ind
• Mission, Texas
• Key West, Fla
• Bloomington, Ind
• Eau Claire, Wis

“We’re committed to providing improved 3G and 4G LTE as quickly as possible, and keeping our customers informed as to when and where they can experience the new network’s superior performance and speed,” said Bob Azzi, senior vice president-Network, Sprint. “Our customers depend on their mobile devices as their primary source of communication, business connectivity and entertainment. We’re delivering all of that functionality at a very competitive price.”

During the pre-launch phase, Sprint customers with capable devices may begin to see 4G LTE coverage in these areas and are welcome to use the network even before it officially launches. Sprint plans to announce commercial availability of 4G LTE in these cities in the coming months, followed by continued enhancements in coverage, performance and reliability. Ultimately, Sprint’s 4G LTE coverage is expected to largely match the existing nationwide 3G footprint.

Sprint has announced more than 125 cities where Sprint 4G LTE is on its way, including Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami; Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans; New York; Philadelphia; and Washington, D.C. To find out more about which markets currently have Sprint 4G LTE and which markets are coming next, please visit http://3gstore.com/coverage

Sprint introduced its all-new 4G LTE network in July 2012 and currently offers service in 32 cities1. As part of its overall network strategy, Sprint is also doing a complete overhaul of its 3G infrastructure so that customers can enjoy better wireless signal strength, in-building coverage, and fewer dropped/blocked calls. These enhancements are now available to customers in several markets across the country, with significant deployment in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., and will continue to improve in the weeks and months ahead. With these enhancements to Sprint’s 3G network, the company’s prepaid customers, on Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile, will also benefit and can expect to see better coverage, improved network reliability and voice quality resulting in up to 20 to 30 percent fewer dropped and blocked calls.

At 4G World 2012 conference in Chicago T-Mobile announced that they plan to deploy LTE (Long Term Evolution). They hope to "cover 200 million people with LTE by the end of 2013" and complete the rollout in 2014, according to CTO Neville Ray from his keynote on Wednesday. Their plan includes releasing LTE in major metropolitan areas in 2013, and they’ll be testing LTE-Advanced this summer. In order to meet these broad expectations T-mobile is planning to merge with MetroPCS in 2013, which will give them more spectrum to improve both download and upload speeds. Right now T-Mobile is relying on their HSPA+ network capable of delivering either 21Mbps or 42Mbps speeds in upgraded markets.

AT&T has recently turned 4G LTE on in Ft. Myers, Tulsa, Knoxville and Knox County, including parts of surrounding Anderson and Blount Counties and parts of Loudon, Roane and Sevier Counties.

• Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering speeds faster than many other mobile Internet technologies. Customers can stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
• Cool new devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets, such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, Motorola ATRIX ™ HD, HTC One™ X, Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Galaxy Note™, and Pantech Element™ tablet.
• Faster response time. LTE technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start downloading a webpage or file once you’ve sent the request. Lower latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video calling and telemedicine.
• More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry data traffic and services and to deliver a better network experience.

“We continue to see demand for mobile Internet skyrocket, and our 4G LTE network in Ft. Myers responds to what customers want from their mobile experience — more, faster, on the best devices,” said AT&T Florida President Marshall Criser, lll

“I’m proud to say that Ft. Myers is among the communities enjoying this cutting-edge technology,” said Jennifer Berg, Marketing and Communications Director for the Ft. Myers Regional Partnership, "AT&T's investment in Ft. Myers builds on our reputation as a strong region for business investment.”

“We continue to see demand for mobile Internet skyrocket, and our 4G LTE network in Tulsa responds to what customers want from their mobile experience — more, faster, on the best devices,” said Steve Gray, Vice President and General Manager for AT&T Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“Knox County is thriving and a great place to do business,” said Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett. “Large and small businesses have a home here, and AT&T’s investment and launch of 4G LTE  reflects their confidence in our county and adds next generation capabilities for our businesses and consumers.”

According to Verizon Wireless the carrier plans to complete their 4G LTE build-out by the middle of 2013. At the end of the third quarter Verizon reported that 35% of its data traffic was coming from 14.9 million postpaid LTE devices covering over 80% of the U.S. population, or 250 million people across 400 markets. Typical speeds over 4G LTE average 5-12Mbps download and 2-5Mbps with many customers experiencing even faster speeds! These increased speeds make for an interesting option for backup failover for businesses looking for redundant backup connectivity. Both AT&T and Sprint combined don’t offer half the market total that Verizon offers and will not complete their 4G LTE rollouts until 2014. This gives Verizon a significant edge for anybody that is looking for reliable 4G LTE connectivity throughout the country.

Poor 4G LTE signal? Buy a 4G LTE antenna

This week T-Mobile announced the company will launch 1900Mhz HSPA+ in three new markets. This will allow them to take advantage of customers that have unlocked iPhone’s and want to switch carriers but not sacrifice performance. Originally T-Mobile launched their HSPA+ network on 1700/2100Mhz, which means that most phones designed for AT&T weren’t compatible with their 4G network. The spectrum re-farm will allow AT&T users to switch to T-Mobile and enjoy 4G connectivity. In this latest launch T-Mobile is now offering 1900Mhz HSPA+ in Washington DC, Baltimore and Houston and they plan to continue installing new equipment at 37,000 cell sites. Knowing which frequency T-Mobile is using in your area is crucial if you have issues with signal because there are different repeaters designed for T-Mobiles 1700/2100 bands and refarmed 1900Mhz frequency.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 07, 2012 - Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) to acquire PCS spectrum and customers in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio including the Chicago and St. Louis markets for $480 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities. The additional spectrum will be used to supplement Sprint’s coverage in these areas as it continues to deploy its Network Vision upgrade and roll out 4G LTE nationally.

“This transaction will enable us to strengthen our business and become a more robust competitor,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint’s CEO. “Acquiring this spectrum will significantly increase Sprint’s network capacity and improve the customer experience in several important Midwest markets including Chicago and St. Louis. We welcome the new customers in these markets and look forward to providing them with Sprint’s unique combination of unlimited plans, an iconic device portfolio and unmatched customer service.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Sprint will acquire 20 MHz of PCS spectrum in the 1900 MHz band in various Midwest markets including Chicago, South Bend, Ind. and Champaign, Ill. and 10 MHz of PCS spectrum in the St. Louis market. In addition, the transaction involves approximately 585,000 U.S. Cellular customers. U.S Cellular will continue its business operations outside of these markets following the closing.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission and is expected to close in mid-2013. In the meantime, the accounts and service of U.S. Cellular customers in these markets will not change. Once the transaction is closed, Sprint will provide additional information on transition plans. Customers with questions can go to USCellularinfo.com to learn more.

The 2012 American Customer Satisfaction Index ranked Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 U.S. industries, during the last four years. Sprint is the only national carrier with Truly UnlimitedSM 4G LTE data, text and calling to any mobile. Everything Data plans with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM, which includes unlimited Web, texting and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint Network, start at just $79.99 per month (excludes surcharges and taxes) for smartphones. Sprint offers a wide selection of 4G LTE smartphones and has launched 4G LTE in 32 cities and expects that 4G LTE will be available in more than 115 additional cities in the coming months.