U.S. Cellular Corp.’s (USM) LTE plans continue to take shape as the regional operator said it plans to roll out its first LTE equipped device in November, presumably following the launch of its initial LTE services.
The carrier announced last month that it planned to launch LTE services by the end of the year, with coverage across more than 25% of its current CDMA footprint. The initial launch would include 24 markets in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma. Markets are to include Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wis.; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa; Portland and Bangor, Maine; and Greenville, N.C.
U.S. Cellular, working with bidding partner King Street Wireless, picked up 152 A and B Block licenses during the Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz spectrum auction in 2008. Those licenses, which cost $401 million, included 12 megahertz of spectrum for each license.
Details of the LTE device were not released, though it’s likely the device will mimic one of the dual-band CDMA/LTE devices currently being offered by Verizon Wireless or MetroPCS Communications Inc.
Along with the LTE devices, U.S. Cellular said it was also planning to roll out a total of eight new smartphones and two tablets by the end of the year. Seven of those eight smartphones will run Google Inc.’s Android 2.3 operating system, with the other device running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7.
HTC Corp. will provide a pair of the new Android smartphones as well as the Windows 7 device, while the other smartphones will include a dual-core model from Motorola Inc., a “slim” model from LG Electronics Co. Ltd., and a pair of entry-level devices from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
As for the tablets, U.S. Cellular only noted that one would be a seven-inch HTC model that will run an unspecified version of Android.
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