Earlier this month, we posted information on
Verizon's LTE trial markets that should have LTE available by the end of the year. It is now being reported that Philadelphia and San Fransisco will be the first markets to launch later this year. There are speculations that Verizon is targeting larger cities first; other cities rumored to be getting LTE service include Atlanta and New York City. When Sprint launched their
4G WiMAX network, they took a different approach by launching smaller markets throughout the country before moving on to larger cities. Launching LTE in larger markets first could be a potential risk: if Verizon miscalculates back-haul (transporting data between locations) or spectrum (range of frequency used to transmit signal) needs, they could end up with capacity issues like AT&T. However, if their LTE network withstands the strain of a major city, they'll have a much larger market to sell to. With plans like this, it's easy to see why Verizon anticipates on having
75% of the country covered with LTE by 2012.
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