San Francisco in Verizon's initial 30-market LTE rollout?
By Ross Miller 
posted August 13th 2010 9:27PM
posted August 13th 2010 9:27PM
We've already heard how Verizon expects to hit the ground running on LTE, starting this November with a launch in 30 markets -- New York, LA, Philadelphia, and so forth. Now it looks like you can add San Francisco to that aggressive list, if Boy Genius Report's leak proves true. Will it beat WiMAX to the region? Your move, Sprint.
Sprint Better decide if there going to keep WiMax or switch to LTE fast
@liftedngifted1 Also did anyone else notice the Jason behind the verizon logo, at first I thought it was a finger print on my screen but no its Jason..
@liftedngifted1
OK, who started all the Jason implementations, and why?
@liftedngifted1 I can't see him, maybe i'm killer-blind...
@liftedngifted1
NVM, silly me, I just looked at the date...*sigh*
@kapanak Uh, no, that's just part of Verizon's logo... you never noticed it before?
@liftedngifted1
LTE is behind Wimax on "coverage" so I don't see a reason for Sprint to switch anytime soon.
@cdf74dc9 Actually, when Verizon launches 4G, it will cover the same amount of people as Sprints WiMax does now. Just more people in less cities at first.
@cdf74dc9
Sprint is using Clearwire for their WiMax service, which Sprint owns about 56% of now. Clearwire has recently come out and said that they will begin tests to run both WiMax and LTE at the same time. If they are able to do both at the same time and be stable then I see them still building out WiMax and then LTE on top of it until the LTE part of their Network catches up to the WiMax part, then they will go full on with LTE. I don't think they will get rid of their WiMax network for at least 3 years though because of their current WiMax devices.
@liftedngifted1
I don't see why either company would care, 999 out of 1000 people in SF have iPhones
@liftedngifted1
Why would you write an article about one city? So short sighted.
@rhimbu Because it's just been added to the list.
@normanb20 Excellent comment..
@liftedngifted1
Actually Sprint is MUCH more aggressive than we know. Sacramento wasn't even on the list of deployment this year, yet they've been doing a lot of trials and my 4G works in the entire area! I am impressed! I know it's not official yet, but it might as well be!
@kapanak Friday the 13th.......
@McKirf
where is 4g working in Sacramento?
@The Dark Knight ;
Last time Sprint changed any technology they left user sand buyers of their handset completely high and dry, with two months notice that their handsets would be completely none functional, and no exchange credit would be given. Sprint began as GSM and was GSM in most markets for several years. I had just purchased two $400 Sprint GSM handsets, when Sprint announced a month later that two months later they were converting our city to cdma. NO credit for my $800 and no unlocking so I could sell the handset. I don't think they will do that again with wimax to LTE, but don't say it can't happen.
@kapanak okay, can you or some other nice engadget commenter explain to me, from beggining to end, this entire Jason thing????? I've seen some stuff in other comments too???? Thanks in advance
@liftedngifted1
Who cares about San Francisco?
Will it ever come to my city? Nope. I live in a small town :( Why meeee?
@something If you're over 18 it's your own fault.
@d0mth0ma5
But, but .... I like mother's basement!
@something Then either give up on LTE or find a laundrette, preferably with a fast food restaurant nearby.
@something
Verizon anticipates 100% of its current coverage will be LTE by 2013. They've been funneling a *lot* of money into infrastructure over the past few years.
And of course, they skip over Minneapolis like every single new-age technology thingy does.
What is that in the checkmark? Is that jas.. OH GO
Oh please yes!
I though I was the only one who saw Jason. Guess verizon and Jason r buddies to kill AT&T and the iPhone
@Flacofromny23
i just want to let you know your comment is appreciated by at least 1 reader :)
any benefits to choosre LTE over wimax?
@acekilla its better. that's a benefit
@acekilla
the biggest advantage that lte has over wimax is the adoption by major carriers. Most all carriers have committed to lte. This will make r&d cheaper and easier to implement on a large scale than wimax.
@acekilla it runs at a lower frequency ( 7-800mhz) so it has better building penetration , and has a much higher bandwith limit. Verizons first rollout is promising 5-12Mb/s download speeds.
@acekilla Not really. Frequencies are not dependent on data tech, despite what the person above says.
@Evileclipse Yeah, the widespread adoption thing is the biggest positive point. Number one it would allow international roaming more easily, which is a huge money maker for carriers, it would also give Sprint access to the plethora of devices that will come out for LTE, because almost every country in the world that has chosen a 4G upgrade path has chosen LTE.
What is Jason?
I will leave AT&T the absolute instant that this happens. AT&T's cell phone coverage in SF has to be the absolute worst in the entire country. This, coupled with the possibility of a Verizon iPhone in January would be amazing.
@lmarengo Theirs three premium Droid Offerings to choose from that are all much better, and with rumors of Blackberry and motorola devices coming to accompany the lte launch things can only get better
I would think that more importantly than the SF area being a rollout market, San Jose will. More specifically than that, Cupertino.
Typical let the homos out there have it first. Must suck to live in a state thats bankrupt!
Funny..I always thought that the reason Jason was killing people was because he was on AT&T..
Hopefully this news will have sprint speed things up competition is about to get serious
Saying Sprint's 4G and other carrier's 4G can't coexist is like saying "cable and DSL, there can only be one!"
it's a means of data delivery and Sprint has the spectrum to keep it cheaper and uncapped. We know what VZ and T will do b/c they have limited spectrum.
So give me my Epic 4G already and let's commence to downloading!
@skemme This is the best I've ever heard anyone (but me :P) state that.
Sprint has so much 2.5Ghz spectrum it doesn't matter. Even on the LTE 2.5 trials Clear is running they can provide much higher speeds than Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile can on LTE. Most of the big boys (Verizon is the only one I know for sure, others will follow I'm sure) can only do 10mhz channels. Clear & Sprint have the spectrum to do 20mhz channels, or for all you math whiz's out there, thats twice the throughput. Clear stated that their LTE trials are aiming for 20-70Mbps to VZW's 6-12Mbps.
Not even mentioning how everyone says LTE is better because of the lower freq. In the US, that's true, but in the EU LTE is on 2.6Ghz bands, so not only will it still require multi-band radios, but it will have worse penetration than WiMax overseas.
WiMax is far from dead. Mark my words.
@geniusdog254
Wimax maybe far from dead, but I think it will in future be confined mostly to laptop devices. If you have read about the dual wimax/LTE chips Sprint floated as a stopgap to put in handsets the whole deal is a mess. There are economies of scale. CDMA already suffers economies of scale issues on handsets with profound implications That's why ATT got iPhone and not Vz. They had equal user bases but GSM has a vaste worldwide base. CDMA, plus wimax is a very small potential user base, less than 6% of the market and trending down and handset makers are going to look at that number and either charge more, make inadequate stock (eg evo), or skip it entirely in many product lines.
@F22 the EVO stock situation is not due to some phantom WiMAX chip set supplier issue, but an industry wide (regardless of tech) smartphone component shortage coupled with incredible demand for arguably the best phone on the market.
Where there's demand, there will always be supply. No one is going to leave money on the table over a non-issue like WiMAX vs. LTE. To the end consumer (who gets new devices every two years) the argument is moot. Uncapped usage with great speeds and reasonable prices will always have plenty of demand.
Ahhh...Friday the 13th brings out the best in Engadget. Even Jason needs a hug now and then...
@icon808 there are 13 Jason things (11 pics & 2 Jaon's name) through out today's articles.
@the bandit Just Because he's a serial killer does not mean he doesn't deserve a quality network....or does it? :D
Phil-A-Delphia Freedom!!!!!!!!!!
I was thinking about moving from my Eris to either the Fascinate or the Droid 2. But, with LTE coming in November and me being in of those initial launch cities, you think it should wait to move to an LTE device or just get one of those aforementioned devices.