Verizon Bringing 4G LTE Coverage to 28 New Locations this Week

Verizon is continuing their 4G rollout this week with the addition of 28 new metropolitan areas to their LTE map. Big Red says the new locations will get the green light on Thursday, though we’ve heard from several folks that 4G is already live in some of the areas included in the roll out. The complete list is as follows:

Decatur and Huntsville, Ala.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Lakeland and Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.; Augusta, Ga.; Hilo, Honolulu, Kahului-Wailuku and Lahaina, Hawaii; Carbondale, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; Louisville, Ky.; Baton Rouge and Hammond, La.; Springfield, Mass.; Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Toledo, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Ore.; Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn.; Olympia and Tacoma, Wash; and Charleston, W.Va. The company is also expanding its 4G LTE network in Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Northern New Jersey; Dallas-Ft. Worth and San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle, Wash.

The new locations bring Verizon’s total number of cities with access to their next-gen network up to 102. Full press release follows.

ON THURSDAY, VERIZON WIRELESS’ 4G LTE NETWORK WILL BE AVAILABLE IN MORE THAN 100 MARKETS

Wireless Leader Turns On 28 Additional 4G LTE Markets and Expands Its 4G LTE Network in Eight Cities On July 21

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless is turning on the world’s most advanced wireless network in 28 additional markets this week, bringing the blazingly fast speed of 4G LTE to a total of 102 cities across the country. Today, consumers and businesses can choose from nine 4G devices – including three smartphones, a tablet, two hotspots and three USB modems – to connect to the fastest 4G LTE network in the country.

The new areas where Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network will be available Thursday include Decatur and Huntsville, Ala.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Lakeland and Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.; Augusta, Ga.; Hilo, Honolulu, Kahului-Wailuku and Lahaina, Hawaii; Carbondale, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; Louisville, Ky.; Baton Rouge and Hammond, La.; Springfield, Mass.; Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Toledo, Ohio; Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Ore.; Wilkes Barre/Scranton, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn.; Olympia and Tacoma, Wash; and Charleston, W.Va. The company is also expanding its 4G LTE network in Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Northern New Jersey; Dallas-Ft. Worth and San Antonio, Texas; and Seattle, Wash.

“On Thursday, when we light up 28 additional 4G LTE markets, we will offer consumers and businesses in 102 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. “In fewer than eight months we have introduced our 4G LTE network to more than 100 markets and we are continuing to aggressively expand our 4G LTE network; by the end of 2013 we plan to bring 4G LTE mobile broadband to our entire 3G coverage area.”

4G LTE Devices

Consumers can choose from several devices to access the blazingly fast speeds of the 4G LTE network, including the Revolution™ by LG, DROID Charge by Samsung and ThunderBolt™ by HTC smartphones, Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 10.1, 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.

Reliability: In and Beyond Major Cities

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.

4G LTE Markets as of July 21, 2011

While Verizon Wireless’ 3G network covers more than 290 million Americans, the company’s 4G LTE network will be available in 102 areas on Thursday, including:

· Decatur, Ala.
· Huntsville, Ala.
· Mobile, Ala.
· Montgomery, Ala.
· Phoenix, Ariz.
· Fresno, Calif.
· Los Angeles, Calif.
· Oakland, Calif.
· San Diego, Calif.
· San Francisco, Calif.
· San Jose, Calif.
· Sacramento, Calif.
· Colorado Springs, Colo.
· Denver, Colo.
· Greater Fairfield and New Haven, Conn.
· Hartford, Conn.
· Washington, D.C.
· Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
· Gainesville, Fla.
· Jacksonville, Fla.
· Lakeland, Fla.
· Miami, Fla.
· Orlando, Fla.
· Pensacola, Fla.
· Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
· Tallahassee, Fla.
· Tampa, Fla.
· West Palm Beach, Fla.
· Athens, Ga.
· Atlanta, Ga.
· Augusta, Ga.
· Hilo, Hawaii
· Honolulu, Hawaii
· Kahului-Wailuku, Hawaii
· Lahaina, Hawaii
· Boise, Idaho
· Carbondale, Ill.
· Chicago, Ill.
· Fort Wayne, Ind.
· Indianapolis, Ind.
· West Lafayette, Ind.
· Wichita, Kan.
· Louisville, Ky.
· Baton Rouge, La.
· Hammond, La.
· New Orleans, La.
· Baltimore, Md.
· Boston, Mass.
· Springfield, 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.
· Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, N.C.
· Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
· Wilmington, N.C.
· Akron, Ohio
· Cincinnati, Ohio
· Cleveland, Ohio
· Columbus, Ohio
· Dayton, Ohio
· Toledo, Ohio
· Oklahoma City, Okla.
· Tulsa, Okla.
· Portland, Ore.
· Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pa.
· Erie, Pa.
· Harrisburg, Pa.
· Philadelphia, Pa.
· Pittsburgh, Pa.
· Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pa.
· State College, Pa.
· Charleston, S.C.
· Columbia, S.C.
· Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
· Hilton Head, S.C.
· Sioux Falls, S.D.
· Chattanooga, Tenn.
· Clarksville, Tenn./Hopkinsville, Ky.
· Cleveland, Tenn.
· Knoxville, Tenn.
· Nashville, Tenn.
· Bryan-College Station, Texas
· Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas
· Houston, Texas
· San Antonio, Texas
· Temple-Killeen, Texas
· Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
· Olympia, Wash.
· Seattle, Wash.
· Spokane, Wash.
· Tacoma, Wash.
· Charleston, W.Va.
· 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, which was officially opened in Waltham, Mass. on July 12, and the Application Innovation Center, slated to open in San Francisco later this year.

Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest, most advanced 4G network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 104 million total wireless connections, including more than 88 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.