Verizon lights LTE in 19 new locales today

We had a good feeling that June 16th would be remembered for new thrills. In addition to America's first roller coaster opening at Coney Island in 1884, Verizon and T-Mobile are blanketing large swaths of users in 4G waves today. For Big Red's part, it's lighting up the 700 MHz spectrum in 19 metropolitan areas, including: Fresno, Sacramento, Spokane, Boise, Salt Lake City, Dayton, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Hartford, and expanding coverage in San Francisco and Detroit. If you're disappointed that your city wasn't mentioned, hit the break for the full list -- there's ten more cities in the PR. As for progress, Verizon claims its LTE coverage extends to 74 locales as of today, which puts the company halfway toward its goal of 147 cities by year's end. Not a bad use for Block C purchases, eh?

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Verizon Wireless Turns On 19 Additional 4G LTE Markets And Expands The 4G LTE Network In Two Cities On June 16

06/14/2011

BASKING RIDGE, NJ - Verizon Wireless is turning on the world's most advanced wireless network in 19 additional metropolitan areas this week, as well as expanding the 4G LTE network in San Francisco and Detroit. The new areas where 4G LTE network will be available Thursday include Fresno and Sacramento, Calif.; Hartford, Conn.; Boise, Idaho; Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Ind.; Flint, Grand Rapids and Lansing, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; Erie, Harrisburg and State College, Pa.; Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah; Spokane, Wash.; and Madison and Milwaukee, Wis. Verizon Wireless is also expanding its 4G LTE network in San Francisco and Detroit on June 16.

"On Thursday when we light up 19 additional 4G LTE markets, we will offer consumers and businesses in 74 metropolitan areas the most advanced 4G wireless network on the planet while continuing to offer the nation's most reliable 3G network coast to coast," said David Small, chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless. "We are aggressively expanding our 4G LTE network: by the end of 2013 we plan to bring 4G LTE mobile broadband to our entire 3G coverage area."

Consumers can choose from several devices to access the blazingly fast speeds of the 4G LTE network, including the newly-launched Revolution™ by LG, DROID Charge by Samsung and ThunderBolt™ by HTC smartphones, as well as the MiFi® 4510L 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot and Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot. Laptop users can enjoy speeds up to 10 times faster than the company's 3G network with three USB modems from Novatel, Pantech and LG. In real-world, fully-loaded network environments, 4G LTE users should experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.

When customers travel outside of a 4G coverage area, the devices automatically connect to Verizon Wireless' 3G network, enabling customers to stay connected from coast to coast. Verizon Wireless' 3G network is the most reliable network in the country, allowing customers with laptops and smartphones to download and use cool apps – from mobile social networking platforms to GPS-enabled maps – rapidly browse the Web to keep up with news, sports and stock quotes and stream must-see video and customized radio stations. Customers in 3G coverage areas today who purchase 4G devices will be able to take advantage of 4G speeds when the faster network becomes available in their areas.

As the first wireless company in the world to broadly deploy game-changing 4G LTE technology, Verizon Wireless is committed to building its 4G network with the same performance and reliability for which it has long been recognized. Verizon Wireless' consistent focus on reliability is based on rigid engineering standards and a disciplined deployment approach year after year. The company's 700 MHz spectrum gives Verizon Wireless specific advantages with 4G, including a contiguous, nationwide network license.

Verizon Wireless' vision also includes bringing its 4G LTE network beyond major cities. The company is working with rural communications companies to collaboratively build and operate a 4G network in those areas using the tower and backhaul assets of the rural company and Verizon Wireless' core 4G LTE equipment and premium 700 MHz spectrum. Already, 10 rural companies have announced their participation in the LTE in Rural America program and have leased spectrum covering, in total, more than 2.1 million people in rural communities and nearly 62,000 square miles. These companies include: Bluegrass Cellular, Cross Telephone, Pioneer Cellular, Cellcom, Thumb Cellular, Strata Networks, S&R Communications, Carolina West / Clear Stream, Custer Telephone Cooperative and Convergence Technologies.

While Verizon Wireless' 3G network covers more than 290 million Americans, the company's 4G LTE network will be available in 74 metropolitan areas on Thursday, including:

Mobile, Ala.
Montgomery, Ala.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Fresno, Calif.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Oakland, Calif.
San Diego, Calif.
San Francisco, Calif.
San Jose, Calif.
Sacramento, Calif.
Denver, Colo.
Greater Fairfield and New Haven, Conn.
Hartford, Conn.
Washington, D.C.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Gainesville, Fla.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Miami, Fla.
Orlando, Fla.
Pensacola, Fla.
Tallahassee, Fla.
Tampa, Fla.
West Palm Beach, Fla.
Athens, Ga.
Atlanta, Ga.
Boise, Idaho
Chicago, Ill.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Indianapolis, Ind.
West Lafayette, Ind.
New Orleans, La.
Baltimore, Md.
Boston, Mass.
Detroit, Mich.
Flint, Mich.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Lansing, Mich.
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.
St. Louis, Mo.
Las Vegas, Nev.
New York, N.Y.
Rochester, N.Y.
Charlotte, N.C.
Fayetteville-Lumberton, N.C.
Wilmington, N.C.
Akron, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pa.
Erie, Pa.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
State College, Pa.
Columbia, S.C.
Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
Hilton Head, S.C.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Clarksville, Tenn./Hopkinsville, Ky.
Cleveland, Tenn.
Nashville, Tenn.
Bryan-College Station, Texas
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas
Houston, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Temple-Killeen, Texas
Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
Seattle, Wash.
Spokane, Wash.
Madison, Wis.
Milwaukee, Wis.

Since 2007, when Verizon Wireless jump-started the global 4G LTE ecosystem with its selection of LTE for its 4G technology, the company has developed deep partnerships to spearhead a broad LTE ecosystem, with many being fostered at the LTE Innovation Center in Waltham, Mass., and the Application Innovation Center, slated to open in San Francisco later this year.