By Regional carrier US Cellular has announced that more cities and towns in the United States would be lit up with pristine 4G LTE this year. Select cities in California, Kansas and Nebraska will get 4G LTE love for the first time, and existing deployments in cities and towns in Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin will get expansions.
US Cellular didn’t get into specifics about who, exactly, should be expecting these new launches and expansions, nor did the wireless carrier tell us when it would happen. Still, it sounds like a pretty significant amount of its customers will be doused in 4G LTE goodness this year.
The carrier expects to have folks in over 3,800 cities and towns covered by the end of this year. US Cellular also revealed that 61% of its consumer base has access to 4G LTE, and that number is expected to rise to about 87% by the end of this year. The network upgrades should be complete at some point in 2014.
It’s an impressive timeline for a regional carrier, but US Cellular’s one of the very few carriers in that category with a real shot to break into the “big 4” here in the United States, and it’s this kind of acceleration it’ll need if it wants to challenge T-Mobile for the 4th spot in the years to come. Read on for full press details.
U.S. Cellular Announces Next Markets To Receive 4G LTE Service In 2013
Millions more customers will have access to faster 4G LTE speedsCHICAGO (Feb. 14, 2013) – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM), in conjunction with its partner, King Street Wireless, announced the next markets that will receive high-speed 4G LTE services. By the end of 2013, customers in more than 3,800 additional cities and towns will have access to 4G LTE speeds that are up to 10 times faster than 3G and similar to a cable Internet connection. Currently, 61 percent of U.S. Cellular customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and 87 percent are expected to be covered by the end of the year.
New 4G LTE service will be launched in select cities in California, Kansas and Nebraska and existing 4G LTE service will be expanded to include additional cities in Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Some of the new cities that will receive 4G LTE include Lincoln, Neb., Omaha, Neb., Manhattan, Kan., Eureka, Calif. and Ukiah, Calif.
4G LTE speeds provide an enhanced wireless experience with fast web browsing, smooth video streaming, video chatting with no buffering and speedy app downloads. U.S. Cellular currently offers 10 4G LTE devices, including smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S® III and Samsung Galaxy Note® II, in addition to a tablet, hotspots and a wireless modem.
“We’re continuously improving our customer experience, so we’re excited to offer 4G LTE speeds to nearly all of our customers by the end of 2013,” said Michael S. Irizarry, executive vice president and chief technology officer. “This 4G LTE network expansion, along with our growing line-up of 4G LTE devices, will make customers’ lives simpler and easier with quick access to important information and entertainment on their devices.”
The 4G LTE network builds on the 3G data services that U.S. Cellular customers have enjoyed on the carrier’s nationwide network. U.S. Cellular has the highest call quality and network satisfaction of any national carrier, along with a valuable rewards program that recognizes loyalty. For more information about the 4G LTE experience, visit uscellular.com/4G.
4G LTE not available in all areas. See uscellular.com/4G for detailed coverage info. 4G LTE service is provided in partnership with King Street Wireless. LTE is a trademark of ETSI.
About King Street Wireless, L.P.
King Street Wireless, L.P. currently holds 700 MHz wireless spectrum in 27 states and is partnering with Chicago–based U.S. Cellular to deliver high–speed 4G LTE service to U.S. Cellular’s customers in several of the carrier’s markets. King Street Wireless is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia where it is recognized for its involvement in its community both through its economic development and philanthropic efforts. To learn more about King Street Wireless, visit www.kingstreetwireless.com.About U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular rewards its customers with unmatched benefits and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier has a strong line-up of cutting-edge devices that are all backed by its high-speed nationwide network that has the highest call quality of any national carrier. Currently, 61 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and 87 percent will have access by the end of 2013. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.
US Cellular is pretty awesome. They have great service with excellent coverage, speeds, reasonable prices and they actually care about the communities they serve (sponsor local community charities).
It’s what a regional should be and the kind of quality regionals others would see if the government was smarter and blocked deals from the evil large carriers buying smaller ones. For example that nasty Alltel buyout.
I agree with the excellent coverage and reasonable prices, but the loyalty to its specific regional customers is a concern. I live about 5 minutes away from their headquarters within their range of coverage in Chicago. They told me I’d have 4G multiple times “in a few months”, it never came and apparently now is never coming to Chicago.
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While US cellular may be a great regional carrier, how can they ever get to be a part of the big 4? They don’t have any sort of national coverage natively. Without 3g roaming, the vast majority of the USA, including a ton of major cities, would have no coverage with them. However given how slow 3g EVDO is on verizon, and sprint, I don’t think it can really be called data at this point, and definitely won’t even be considered by anyone in another couple years.
LOL!!! THEIR PLAN PRICES ARE INSANE!!!
I think their plan prices is ok..considering what all you get. I just switched to them and I got the Unlimited 4G data. Something that the other carriers don’t offer. A couple of other perks is the Belief Program and the ability to do battery swaps.Again, a couple of things that the other carriers don’t offer.
USCC is interesting because there were so many things I loved about them, but so many things I also disliked. I loved their call service/coverage and pricing because it honestly could not be beat. Their plans and options to upgrade were also quite impressive.
Things to dislike, on the other hand, were a lot more important. Although the call coverage was nice, the 3G speeds never seemed to get up there compared to any other networks. I usually wanted the 3G speeds rather than the calls since I’m rarely using the “Phone” feature of the…phone. Second, they had the absolute worst release dates since they were usually about 3-4 months (at least) late on every phone. Lastly, they lied to me and my family for about a year and a half about when 4G would be released in Chicago. Apparently, they were never really going to release it fully in Chicago which really made us mad. Glad I made my switch.
USCC getting LTE in Ukiah and Eureka CA, finally!