Verizon Wireless is set to expand its LTE service to 27 new markets and expand coverage in 44 current markets on April 19, which the carrier said will push overall market coverage to 230 total markets and more than two-thirds of the nation’s population. The carrier said it expects to further expand coverage to more than 400 markets and 260 million potential customers covered by the end of the year.
Verizon Wireless had previously stated that it expects to provide LTE service across its entire CDMA footprint by the end of 2013.
The new markets will include Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Pine Bluff, Siloam Springs and Van Buren, Ark.; Visalia/Porterville, Calif.; Fort Walton Beach and Ocala, Fla.; Brunswick, LaGrange and Macon/Warner Robins, Ga.; Peoria, Ill.; Kokomo/Logansport and Marion, Ind.; Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays, Kan.; Salisbury, Md.; Cattaraugus/Allegany, N.Y.; Sandusky, Ohio; Ardmore and Ponca City, Okla.; Salem/Albany/Corvallis, Ore.; Pierre, S.D.; and Big Springs and Tyler, Texas.
Expansion of current launches will include Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Sacramento, Salinas/Monterey, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Stockton, Calif.; Colorado Springs and Fort Collins/Loveland, Colo.; Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla.; Boise/Nampa, Idaho; Carbondale/Marion and Rockford, Ill.; Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Ind.; Des Moines, Iowa; Boston and Worcester, Mass.; Detroit, Mich.; St. Louis, Mo.; Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Manchester/Nashua, N.H.; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M.; Buffalo/Niagara Falls and New York, N.Y.; Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Ore.; Providence/Pawtucket, R.I.; Nashville, Tenn.; El Paso, Texas; Provo/Orem and Salt Lake City/Ogden, Utah; and Olympia/Centralia and Spokane, Wash.
The move would appear to keep the carrier ahead of rivals in the race of expanding “4G” network coverage, or at least when it comes to networks using LTE technology. AT&T Mobility is touting it has the largest “4G” coverage based on its growing LTE network and its HSPA+-based network. While T-Mobile USA also claims coverage superiority based on its HSPA+ network.
Verizon Wireless notes in its latest release that it has “six times the geographic coverage of our nearest competitor’s 4G LTE network,” seeming to single out AT&T Mobility’s LTE service as its only real competitor. Sprint Nextel is planning to rollout LTE services by mid-year, while T-Mobile USA has said its LTE network rollout would start in 2013.
Of course, we will ignore the fact that none of these networks actually conform to the real “4G” standard as put forward by the International Telecommunications Union, but why let facts get in the way of a good marketing story.
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