VZW had a nice little press conference yesterday to advise us of their big announcement that they have reached their 500th 4G Market. Congrats to Parkersburg WV for being that one. Other highlights from the presser were. The Verizon 4G network now covers 99% of the 3G area covering more than 398 million people, They are the largest 4G LTE Network in the US, VOLTE will be released next year, and AWS Band will be opened up the 2nd half of this year. Not bad for a 4G LTE network that is only 8 months old. Below is the official release from VZW.
There will be more than 220 million 4G LTE subscribers around the world by 2014, according to Juniper Research. Currently the world’s fastest commercially-available wireless technology is serving consumers in 70 countries, from Singapore to Belgium to the United States, and adoption is growing.
Driven by the expansion of the network over the past two and a half years as well as the availability of devices, 57 percent of Verizon Wireless’ data is carried on its 4G LTE. A leader in 4G LTE deployment, Verizon Wireless has expanded coverage rapidly since it launched its 4G LTE network in December 2010. Today, its 4G LTE network covers 500 markets in 49 states and officially launches next month in Alaska.
The impact of 4G LTE is evident all around us. It has transformed the entire mobile ecosystem, inspiringnew types of content to be created and consumed beyond the range of popular limited-range private and public Wi-Fi networks, including streaming video from a train and photo sharing from a mountain peak, chatting on Skype, or listening to Pandora on a long drive. 4G LTE has made the high-speed, high-quality wireless experience a possibility as we travel throughout the United States. And, new uses are still being developed and introduced for appliances, cameras, cars and mobile health devices. By 2020, forecasts from GMSA predict that 4G LTE will enable 24 billion connected devices.
All those devices will require a network that can meet that demand. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network is available to more than 99 percent of its 3G footprint and to more than 95 percent of the entire U.S. population. So, virtual nationwide coverage has arrived and will continue to expand – making the real question, where will 4G LTE take our lives next?
