Verizon Wireless 4G trials going well, on track for 2010 commercial launch
Verizon Wireless is now home to the largest network in the country and thanks to today’s news, it will soon be home to the nation’s most modern as well. Big Red is currently trialing its next-generation wireless network that will operate on the newly acquired 700 MHz spectrum and, well, things are looking pretty good… To the tune of 50 – 60 Mbps download speeds! Of course these speeds were recorded on a clutter-free network but that this stage in LTE’s development here in the US, they’re impressive none the less. With Verizon shooting for an initial commercial launch in 2010 that should cover a pretty significant portion of key markets right from the get-go, Clearwire and Sprint could be in for the rude awakening of a lifetime. Verizon’s LTE network will be in direct competition with WiMAX of course and with the WiMAX roll out moving at a snail’s pace and user adoption lacking at best, trouble is most definitely brewing.
Way to go! I still think the big red is a huge rip off! But very interesting.
Has anyone heard more about Bell’s and Telus’s move away from their CDMA networks? Will Verizon customers (or Sprint ones, for that matter) be able to roam anywhere once that happens? Or will Bell/Telus be stuck maintaining the old network just for legacy and US roamers?
so is verizon will move to GSM? i though that CDMA 4g was wiimax and LTE was for gsm networks?
AT&T needs to speed things up and fix their network.
My bad… Brain fart. LTE IS the next gen for GSM. So they will be able to roam internationally.
@Damiaking: crossgrade paths are always available, and ditching CDMA is a good choice for any network that wants to get decent handsets sooner.
Im sure they might keep a lingering CDMA presence till they fully transition. Sorta like a Analog-Digital move
Woah, that is putting WiMax in the crapper. These test have fruitful #’s
@damiaking: WiMax is separate from both CDMA and GSM. CDMA’s 4G technology was UMB but that’s not officially dead – Qualcomm is on longer developing UMB and is throwing their support behind LTE.
LTE is the UMTS Long Term Evolution (o u c wot i did thar) technology.
WiMax is entirely separate, and honestly I don’t see it getting much traction… anywhere.
*Now officially dead, instead of “not officially dead.”
Verizon is making a good move but will suffer in the coming years having to operate both a GSM and CDMA network. They have a CDMA network that is everywhere and a GSM network that won’t be. Therefore they will need dual band phones that will cause headaches. It will cause headaches on Verizon’s part because how many phone makers are actually going to want to use precious space in phones for both technologies. They will continue to suffer from lack of phone options. The headache will then be passed along to consumers with higher phone pricing because of the dual technology. Unless Verizon plays its cards very well they could have some issues with integrating this new technology with their current technology.
this would be the final hammer in sprints coffin.
this wouldnt be a bad ploy for verizon, they could offer customers who are not eligible new LTE handsets and call it an early upgrade, broken phones, new LTE ones, not that bad……..really
Well, technically, it’s not like LTE is a GSM technology like we know it today. GSM today is actually just TDMA. So what Verizon is going to be doing is exactly what AT&T and T-Mobile are doing now. WCDMA is not the same as GSM, therefore AT&T and T-Mobile have to launch a completely new network and new phones that can work on them. Same as Verizon will have to do with the LTE launch. You don’t see AT&T and T-Mobile having huge problems do you? I think too many people are wrapped up thinking that LTE = GSM. But it isn’t. They really are two different technologies but in the same evolutionary family. So you can now say that CDMA is in that family as well.
I hate to say this but this will be a true game changer. Not to say Verizon doesn’t already have the best data network/coverage so far.
Now with ATT and T-Mobile staying and maximizing their 3g networks before investing into 4g this will mean that sprint and Verizon will be the only ones with 4g.
We all know by the TV ads that ATT claims to have the fastest 3G network, Verizon claims to have the largest 3G network and Sprint claims to have the most reliable 3G network and T-Mobile has the newest 3G network. Since 4G is going to be faster then 3G this could be a huge blow for ATT.
@dubya
you don’t know what you’re talking about. there are other cdma networks in the world and they are moving to lte too. there is a huge market for cdma/lte phones. verizon won’t have to run dual networks very long. they are VERIZON! they’ll have lte all over in a matter of a couple of years.
This may or may not interest anyone but this is what I received in an e-mail today regarding the 4G:
The Future of 4G
Today we made a move that will jump-start our deployment of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks globally. In addition to faster e-mail and Internet access and better quality video services, LTE will enable wireless users to take applications they are accustomed to using at home or in the office into the mobile world when traveling throughout the U.S. or internationally virtually anywhere on the planet.
Today’s News:
We selected Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent as primary network vendors for our initial LTE network deployments in the United States. These two vendors are expected to build the underlying infrastructure that will enable us to become the first wireless company to offer commercial LTE-based service in the United States, starting in 2010.
We selected Starent Networks, ALU and Ericsson as a packet core vendors.
We selected Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent as key suppliers for the IP Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) network, which will enable rich multimedia applications regardless of access technology. LTE will be one of the key wireless access networks linked to the IMS technology.
We announced the creation of the Verizon LTE Innovation Center, which will be based in the suburban Boston community of Waltham, Mass. With support from founding partners Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, the mission of the Innovation Center is to be the catalyst for early development of non-traditional products for use on LTE networks.
We have been working with Vodafone to utilize existing spectrum to begin field testing 4G LTE networks in the U.S. in:
Minneapolis
Columbus, Ohio
Northern New Jersey
Because LTE is a global standard and will be used by our customers outside of the U.S. as well, we have also begun field testing in:
Budapest
Düsseldorf
Madrid
We will utilize our recently acquired 700 MHz spectrum to expand trials this summer, and we will commercially launch our LTE network in 2010.
Once the initial rollout is complete, plans are in place for aggressive deployment throughout our entire network, including areas not currently covered by our existing footprint.
F-ing awesome
The Storm has this technology and it wasn’t really that pricey.
Long live the Empire. yessssssssssssssss.
How great would it be if apple decided that all upcoming iphones would run on 4G. It would make me laugh seeing customers leaving ATT to go to Sprint or Verizon.
oops! that last comment was for DubYa.
If they’d stop crippling their f’ing phones…they would be the greatest. For now, yawn…
basically think of it like this gsm is 2g cdma is 3g lte is 4g.. wimax is a diff brand of 4g but closely related to lte.. gsm 3g is actually a form of cdma.. thats why gsm phones that are 3g sometimes have qualcomm stickers on them.. so at&t and tmobile actually have a gsm network and a cdma overlay so thier phones do actually have two chips which is why you can do voice and data at the same time.. the only reason gsm to lte is easier and/ or cheaper than what sprint and vzw are doing is because more telecom companies are going that route.. it is still bringing together totally diff standards.. gsm is time divisional.. cdma is code divisional… and lte/ wimax is orthogonal frequency division..
i have sprint and i love it.. but this is the worst sprint news in years hands down.. wimax was a gamble and they still might pull it off but man.. and i always thought sprint would get lte once phones require it as standard…. i think wimax is a way to combat vzws fiber optic.. because comcast and time warner are big wimax backers
HA HA… VZW will rule the world, and all you At&T fanboys (and girls) will be begging for someone to buy your old, slow, and outdated iphones for a shiny new well working 4g batch of goodness…
To quote an earlier post:
“Long live the Empire”
Darth Vader Lives…now just get my my VZW Bold and we can call it a total victory…
hurry up with the bold verizon. i want it before you launch your 4g network. before may would be good.