Verizon Wireless has conducted successful LTE data calls in 34 markets

By on Aug 3, 2010 at 7:01 PM
Exclusive August 3, 2010

One of our solid Verizon Wireless connects has dropped us a line to let us know that Verizon Wireless has made successful end-to-end LTE data calls in 34 of the 38 test markets it is currently operating. This leaked document seems to confirm what Verizon had said back in June, that they are on schedule to meet their goal of 25 to 30 LTE markets live by the end of 2010. We’ve already seen prototype LTE data sticks, what we’re really interested in seeing is LTE handsets!

Thanks, VzW Tipster!

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  • joeb

    Doesnt matter what sprint does/doesnt do..CDMA for the will ALWAYS b limited..no voice/data at sametime!..fail!!

    att is also going 4g end of this year!.yay..no iphone 4 wont work..seriousely

    • Celz

      Ironically the overall crappiness of GSM is why GSM phones do voice and data.. GSM caps out with edge and they license CDMA from Qualcomm and change the name to UTMS, HSPA, WCDMA, and so on.. So all GSM phones have a 2G radio for calls and a 3G one for data and digital calling.. CDMA phones just have one radio..

      • freddy

        And CDMA phones (specifically EVDO rev 0 and A) can NOT do voice and data at the same time (only when using WiFi for data). Also if you read a little UMTS is very closely related to GSM, hence seamless handovers are possible.

      • John Thacker

        The UMTS protocol stack at the higher levels is related to GSM, and has a lot of GSM backwards compatibility, since it’s the official upgrade path.

        However, at the air interface level, GSM and UMTS are incredibly different. GSM uses a TDMA modulation (multiple access) scheme, whereas UMTS uses CDMA (the multiple access technique, not the CDMAOne/CDMA2000 family of protocols), and, yes, they pay Qualcomm for licensed patents.

        CDMAOne (IS-95) and CDMA2000 are similar enough at the air interface level that they can be backwards and forwards compatible on a single radio, unlike UMTS phones, which do require two separate radios.

        Handovers from GSM to UMTS are not “seamless” in a lot of senses, though it’s as good as you can get given the different air interfaces thanks to the protocol. It’s as “seamless” as UMTS to LTE or CDMA2000 to LTE will be. (Since LTE uses OFDMA, like WiMAX does.)

      • Grandswiss

        Here you can see the handover form 3G (HSPA) to 4G (LTE) is seamless:

      • Celz

        CDMA phones can do voice and data its called EV-DV and it is deployed it foreign countries.. Sprint and VZW concluded it would be pointless for this upgrade since Wimax and LTE will give voice and data with faster speeds and EV-DV will only give Voice and Data.. UMTS is CDMA tailored to play nice with GSM I dont care to read all of the specifics unless its for a job but UMTS is a form of CDMA that is a more advanced than EV-DO and backwards compatible with GSM that’s all that matters

      • Celz

        That was @ Freddy.. John knows his stuff

      • hwertz

        Actually, EV-DV is not deployed anywhere as far as I know, after some of the largest carriers decided to use EVDO instead, EVDV devices never shipped. (Frankly, as much as some people make a big deal about it, when I’m on a call the phone’s mashed to my head, so I’m not using data as well.)

        There are two mechanisms to potentially support this — one, SVDO (Simultaneous Voice and Data — don’t know what the “O” stands for..) allows the phone to use it’s 1X radio for voice while simultaneously using the EVDO radio for data. I’ve read this should involve just a software update at the network side, no new hardware, so carriers can implement it pretty easily if they want. The other method is to use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) for the phone call. I don’t think any carrier implements either one, although many smartphones can run Skype and so make a Skype call while using other data. LTE will use the second approach — LTE uses a specialized form of VOIP for voice calls.

    • 303onrepeat

      4G wimax does support Voice and Data so if you do live in those areas you can enjoy that option.

    • Brad

      Um, no, AT&T is nowhere close to being ready with LTE by the end of this year. Later next year, maybe.

  • palomosan

    Getting closer, can’t wait and see what phones will drop when Verizon goes live with LTE.

    • Giorgio

      None initially. You can eat your heart out with data cards though. Hahaha.

  • Charlie

    What do the different lightning bolts mean? I see that Seattle has a giant red one…is that good or bad? O_o

    • Sftbert

      I believe that is one of two markets-along with Boston, that is do a significant amount of testing.

    • Urugami

      And what does that one in Louisiana mean… New Orleans or Baton Rouge?

  • Celz

    Most people wont even need 4g and would smart to leave it off..

  • Sftbert

    Excited about LTE- Not so excited about getting raped by VZW for it.

  • jawman

    Man oh man that LTE looks awesome, but I’m happy sticking with my EVO on Sprint in my 4G Chicago market with my 27% discount, along with TRUE unlimited data. You can’t beat unlimited everything (practically, sans 450 mins landline), and free roaming for $60 bucks a month. The tiered LTE data is going to rape the pockets of the consumer. The wireless companies have seen how internet hungry we are and are already on their way to nickel and diming us every way they can for it.

    • vzwgirl

      sprint isnt truely unlimited roaming ……roam and they will kick you off their network which for most people is a good thing since their service blows anyways

  • 303onrepeat

    For anybody who doesn’t notice all of the cities that have NFL teams will be getting LTE. I was at an VZ LTE vendor meeting for them to display the technology and they specifically are aiming at the NFL towns for LTE trials. If they can deliver the speeds and latency they should be pretty solid technology.

    • Dan

      This is nothing new. For the most part NFL City = Higher Population in and around the city

  • Brad

    Man, what is the deal here. No love for Minnesota? If they’re loving NFL team cities, we’ve got the Vikings, so that oughta be worth something. Oh well, I live about an hour from the Twin Cities, so even if they do get it, I won’t be in a service area. No matter, 3G is plenty fast enough for me for now. They’ll eventually cover their entire 3G footprint with LTE, so when it reaches my area, I’ll pick up an LTE phone. For the moment, I just can’t wait to dump my Eris and get my hands on the Samsung Fascinate.

  • patrick

    looks like portland is in there. Sweet

  • Sin World

    I’ve read through the two pages, and I don’t know where to begin. Sprint/Clearwire is switching to 802.16e Enhanced, which will bridge them closer to TD-LTE, LTE, and WiMax 2 by the end of the year. Better uplink/downlink budgets to help with WiMax cell edge performance; a 70% improvement in spectral efficiency and possible doubling of peak data rates; and methods for reducing signal interference within and among cell sites.

    WiMAX and LTE share most of the RAN and core network, so the transition path to LTE will be smoother than, for instance, the transition path from HSPA to LTE. The trends towards RAN-agnostic base station platforms that can accommodate multiple wireless interfaces and towards user devices that support multiple interfaces further facilitate this transition. A few years ago, a RAN upgrade would have required the deployment of a separate overlay network that would have been difficult if not impossible to integrate with legacy networks.
    Yet the transition to LTE will not be painless, and WiMAX operators should start planning for it now, so that they will be ready for it, if and when they decide to move to LTE. In the rest of this article I will go over some of the key decision points for WiMAX operators considering a transition to LTE. This is a excerpt from FierceWireless.

    Long story short, Dan Hesse, Clearwire, and Todd Morgan, VP of 4G, already established Sprint will one day use LTE. I’m not understanding the arguments.

  • Bob

    I don’t care about fast internet I just want cellular phone service that will not dropp a call, after all isn’t that the reason why most people get a cellphone.

    • hwertz

      “after all isn’t that the reason why most people get a cellphone.”
      Nope! People get them for texting, web browsing, taking photos, playing games. Personally, I text and web surf a lot on my phone and it’s quite antiquated; I’ve also used the navigation when I’ve gotten lost a few times. My mom’s in her 50′s and SHE texts.

      But seriously, this is one thing Verizon’s being conservative about — they are planning to keep the 1X network intact through at least 2018 (I’ve also heard 2020), since they already have it installed and well-tuned as a reliable voice network. So don’t worry about it!

  • Buckeye

    I was in the building and zoning department today in a small NW Ohio town. A gentleman came in to purchase building permits for upgrades to over a dozen Verizon cell towers in NW Ohio. He confirmed to me that they were upgrading to LTE and that “some pinhead behind a desk somewhere is telling me that they absolutely MUST be done by the end of January”

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