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Wednesday May 13, 2009
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Verizon Wireless made their plans for their LTE network a wee bit clearer in a generally dull conference call today, with CEO Lowell McAdam saying that the network would launch commercially in 20-30 markets during "the second half of 2010," with "nationwide buildout complete in late 2013 to early 2014."
That's simultaneously a bit faster and a bit slower than we heard back in February, when Verizon was slinging around a vague 2010 date for commercial launch - which might have been the first half of 2010 - and when they said they'd complete their rollout by 2015.
A small group of Verizon testers will get access to 4G this year,
McAdam added, with Verizon turning on one "pre-commercial" network on
the east coast and one on the west coast during 2009.
That's a little slower in terms of commercial rollout than Verizon CFO John Killian called for in an April conference call, where he said (in a transcript on SeekingAlpha.com) that "we intend to have a few commercially ready markets up by the end of 2009." Unless, of course, "commercially ready" and actually "commercial" mean different things.
LTE is Verizon's next-generation, "4G" network, which will supplement and eventually replace their existing CDMA network. It will be at least somewhat compatible with networks planned by AT&T and MetroPCS, and provide average data speeds between 8-12 Mbps.
Verizon will also have an "application developers' conference" this summer, "where we will open up the Verizon Wireless devices to all the thousands and thousands of apps you see on the Web today," McAdam said.
Most of the rest of the call was devoted to extremely technical questions about LTE specifications. Verizon shied away from any questions about roaming, LTE/CDMA or LTE/GSM dual-mode devices, or services other than packet data (read: voice.)
Three consumer-friendly nuggets did come out of the call, though:
1) Verizon Wireless LTE devices will have swappable SIM cards.
2) Verizon will have certification requirements above and beyond the minimum LTE requirements. In other words, there will be swappable SIM cards, but you probably won't be allowed to use devices which weren't specifically certified for Verizon.
3) Even in 2014, you'll probably still be dialing *228 to provision your phone.
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May 17, 2009 6:59 PM
I thought the LTE delay is because of the delayed digital TV transition, since LTE is going to use that bandwidth.