Verizon’s 4G LTE Network gets improved in selected cities
AWS support will soon be added to the majority of Android smart devices
Three years ago Verizon rolled out its first 4G network and walked the long road of bumps and detours until now, when the carrier is finally ready to unveil that its 4G LTE network is running at full power. The network so far appears for a selected number of cities in the US.
You probably remember when last month Verizon double-wided its LTE network for the New York city and it hasn’t been officially available, GigaOM managed to snag a confirmation via some tests. Using the Speediest iPhone app, the download speed went to 80Mbps with 15Mbps uplink speed. Those impressive results became possible thanks to Verizon’s full 40MHz spectrum and theoretically speaking, these networks can reach a download speed up to 150Mbps. Similar reports appeared also for Chicago and Los Angeles and now users from Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Washington can have a taste of the network that is three times the usual 4G capacity.
All of this is due to Verizon’s purchasement of AWS (advanced wireless services) last year that cost the carrier $3.9 billion that covers more than 300 million PoPs at 700MHz Block C spectrum. The spokesperson from Verizon announced that since the data of the carrier’s customers keeps on growing, AWS spectrum has been deployed in order to ensure the consistent reliability and capacity of Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Additional frequencies has rised to full 40MHz which is twice the results the carrier had in the beginning when they first released their LTE service. Verizon’s CFO Fran Shammo shared that the network has been experiencing a certain amount of strain in San Francisco and Los Angeles, so the new capacity can finally provide for Verizon’s needs for the next couple of years.
Currently, not all devices can take advantage of the new LTE network, however there’s a support for Apple iPhone 5S and Apple iPhone 5C along with Samsung Galaxy S4, Motorola Droid Maxx and Motorola Droid Mini as well as with other LTE routers. An AWS support will soon be added to the majority of Android smart devices.
Source: GigaOM
