LTE Markets/Rollout Official Discussion

[newyork4me]

At first I was like LOL WHAT A JOKESTER! Then I was like "Oh. He's serious."

I have no idea who built it. It has always been Verizon since Verizon's inception as far as I know. I do know they did, at one point, add more towers. The towers that have been here forever have 2 1X panels and 1-2 EVDO panel(s)...and now LTE of course. The newer towers (like the one by my new house, which is just over a mile away from an older tower) only has 1 1X panel, 1 EVDO, and of course LTE. So they knew these sites didn't need the capacity of the others, but regardless, we never have congestion, be it voice or data, no matter what. I wish they were as great everywhere as they are here.

I was joking at first, and then I was actually curious. I didn't know if Alltel operated in your area (which presumably would have been PCS), as they tended to run pretty good cell grids.

[bobfmifi]

Look at NorCal, there is no LTE north of San Rafael or Sacramento, that's a HUGE area. Granted it's mostly rural, but still it's a big gap, and there are a few decent sized cities in the North State like Santa Rosa at 150,000 and Redding at 90,000.

Evidently they are creeping north a little. Recently most of the populated areas of Nevada County were lit up so much of the 49 corridor between Auburn and Nevada City has LTE now. Looks like they also really expanded out 65 in the Lincoln area and 50 around Placerville too but I'm going from memory.

Apparently my little county presently has the distinction of the furthest north deployment in NorCal which is kind of ironic considering the population density.

Sad thing is that my coverage actually has gotten worse since much of the map around me starting showing LTE.

Now my MiFi seems to keep flapping between 3G-4G where it had been very solid 4G for the last couple of months

I hope its just growing pains as they expand the area but I had better coverage when I was on the only little tiny island of 4G in the county. Speed is OK tonight so I will keep my fingers crossed.

[ilvla2]

Evidently they are creeping north a little. Recently most of the populated areas of Nevada County were lit up so much of the 49 corridor between Auburn and Nevada City has LTE now. Looks like they also really expanded out 65 in the Lincoln area and 50 around Placerville too but I'm going from memory.

Apparently my little county presently has the distinction of the furthest north deployment in NorCal which is kind of ironic considering the population density.

Sad thing is that my coverage actually has gotten worse since much of the map around me starting showing LTE.

Now my MiFi seems to keep flapping between 3G-4G where it had been very solid 4G for the last couple of months

I hope its just growing pains as they expand the area but I had better coverage when I was on the only little tiny island of 4G in the county. Speed is OK tonight so I will keep my fingers crossed.

That's cool, I hope they get the speed thing fixed! We don't have LTE up here in Mendocino County yet (I'm in Redwood Valley myself, halfway between Ukiah and Willits), it currently ends at San Rafael, 110 miles south of me. AT&T's LTE ends 120 miles south in San Francisco. From what I understand, Verizon is SUPPOSED to roll out LTE up here sometime this year, with U.S. Cellular to roll it out in our area sometime in 2013, AT&T though hasn't made any announcements but we do have HSPA+ w/EB in many towns, like Ukiah, Redwood Valley, Philo, Boonville, Willits, Fort Bragg, Lakeport, Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Garberville, Fortuna, Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville. T-Mobile and Metro PCS remain 2G though, with T-Mobile running EDGE and GPRS and Metro PCS running 1x. Sprint doesn't have service in our county though, they roam on USCC and VZ.

[bobfmifi]

That's cool, I hope they get the speed thing fixed! We don't have LTE up here in Mendocino County yet (I'm in Redwood Valley myself, halfway between Ukiah and Willits), it currently ends at San Rafael, 110 miles south of me. AT&T's LTE ends 120 miles south in San Francisco. From what I understand, Verizon is SUPPOSED to roll out LTE up here sometime this year, with U.S. Cellular to roll it out in our area sometime in 2013, AT&T though hasn't made any announcements but we do have HSPA+ w/EB in many towns, like Ukiah, Redwood Valley, Philo, Boonville, Willits, Fort Bragg, Lakeport, Clearlake, Clearlake Oaks, Garberville, Fortuna, Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville. T-Mobile and Metro PCS remain 2G though, with T-Mobile running EDGE and GPRS and Metro PCS running 1x. Sprint doesn't have service in our county though, they roam on USCC and VZ.

Hope they do soon. We are about to make the annual trek to Arcata for the Kinetic Sculpture Race. I love the NorthCoast, lived all over Sonoma Co for many years in my early years. Sonoma/Mendocino coast is one of my favorite places on earth.

I have been in your neck of the woods very many times, my best friend and I used to go up to Pillsbury on Co Rd M6 8-10 times a year back in the 70's. Always loved Redwood and Potter Valleys.

There's a bun in the oven in Eureka that is due in August so I think there will be even more frequent trips up there if soon-to-be Grandma has her way ;-)

[AlexKidd1977]

Why is that? Did they buy the network from someone? [I'm actually being serious: VZW-built networks tend to push the limits of the frequency's reach]

I'm also in Louisville. Got this result on first try from my Droid Pro using VZW 3G:



This one is sitting leisurely in my upstairs home office, not making any effort to go outside for a better signal...

EDIT: Fired up the Xoom tablet for the heck of it and ran another on LTE:



Same Speedtest.net server. Not the most mind blowing result I've ever gotten, but certainly plenty fast...

--Kidd

[winterny]

Any comparison maps for new york city area?

[daake_07]

Those Louisville results are rather impressive. I just did another speed test from the same physical location to the same server and just got 1217/485. That's only 12x faster than my previous test. Sadly both results are typical depending on time of day.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using HowardForums

[Trocks797]

I was joking at first, and then I was actually curious. I didn't know if Alltel operated in your area (which presumably would have been PCS), as they tended to run pretty good cell grids.

No...Alltel has never operated in Kentucky.

I'm also in Louisville. Got this result on first try from my Droid Pro using VZW 3G:



This one is sitting leisurely in my upstairs home office, not making any effort to go outside for a better signal...

Nice indoor speeds! I see speeds like ours here in Louisville then I hear others say they can't even stream Pandora on 3G. Well I have driven all over this city and state (and plenty of other places) streaming Spotify on 3G (4G off to save battery) and have never had an issue, and it irks me that Verizon lets some areas get that bad. Verizon executives must have Humana insurance and loooove Papa John's pizza. Oh, and they're obviously bourbon drinkers. That's got to be it.

Any comparison maps for new york city area?

I've got em! You may need to scroll left/right, as the pic is long. Here ya go!

Those Louisville results are rather impressive. I just did another speed test from the same physical location to the same server and just got 1217/485. That's only 12x faster than my previous test. Sadly both results are typical depending on time of day.

As NewYork said, Verizon typically pushes their spectrum for all its worth, stretching sites as far apart as possible. I see that you're in Nebraska, and I can almost guarantee that is the case there, perhaps unless you are in Omaha, but the sites there are likely spaced out more so than other carriers. So if you're quite a ways away from the site, your speeds are obviously reduced. In addition, if there are any capacity or backhaul issues, it is even worse, but your final test of 1.2mbps from the same distant location says backhaul is not really an issue. In my expierience, backhaul is rarely an issue for Verizon; it is always capacity due to fewer sites. Do you know how far you are from your site?

[ggore]

Some say that the LTE in Rural America launches will help Verizon meet it's June 30, 2013 goal of a full 3G overlay. It will have an overall effect, but those LTE systems will be launching in areas where Verizon does not currently have a physical system at all, where they never built anything in the first place. It's a provision of the LTEiRA program. Here in Oklahoma for example, Pioneer and Cross Telephone's launches will fill in the huge blank areas in the southeast and northwest, but Verizon will still have to cover their own native area. They will have some competition in the panhandle, as it is already covered with LTE by PTCI.

[sc4fpse]

Some say that the LTE in Rural America launches will help Verizon meet it's June 30, 2013 goal of a full 3G overlay. It will have an overall effect, but those LTE systems will be launching in areas where Verizon does not currently have a physical system at all, where they never built anything in the first place.

Correct, but in a lot of these areas, Verizon has existing 3G roaming agreements with the LTE in Rural America partners. Take the thumb of Michigan, for example. If you look at the Verizon 3G/2G coverage map and zoom in far enough, you can see that the entire thumb is extended 3G coverage, which, of course, Verizon treats more or less as native 3G coverage, and includes this area when they talk about how big their 3G network is. These are areas where Verizon does not have any existing equipment, but where they rely on their LTE in Rural America partners to fill in their (Verizon's) maps for them.

Now, in areas where existing agreements only provide for 1X roaming for Verizon customers, that obviously won't be a big deal, as they would be lighting up LTE in areas that aren't currently covered on Verizon's 3G map.

[ggore]

Correct, but in a lot of these areas, Verizon has existing 3G roaming agreements with the LTE in Rural America partners. Take the thumb of Michigan, for example. If you look at the Verizon 3G/2G coverage map and zoom in far enough, you can see that the entire thumb is extended 3G coverage, which, of course, Verizon treats more or less as native 3G coverage, and includes this area when they talk about how big their 3G network is. These are areas where Verizon does not have any existing equipment, but where they rely on their LTE in Rural America partners to fill in their (Verizon's) maps for them.

Now, in areas where existing agreements only provide for 1X roaming for Verizon customers, that obviously won't be a big deal, as they would be lighting up LTE in areas that aren't currently covered on Verizon's 3G map.

Verizon will sure include the thumb when bragging about how big their 3G coverage is, it's good for PR, but that area is not covered natively by Verizon, so it isn't included in their prediction of covering their 3G footprint by June 30, 2013. If that area is served by a LTEiRA partner, then it is they who will build and launch the LTE, not Verizon. Verizon will continue to have full roaming rights in the thumb on its LTE system and vice versa.

[ggore]

I had a conversation with a Pioneer rep today at an event, he informed me that Pioneer will be launching their LTE system sometime in May, with 5 sites along US 81 from Okarche to Hennessey, OK, including the city of Kingfisher, where Pioneer's home office is located. That's it. The rest of Pioneer's territory to be covered in later phases, time indeterminate. This jibes with the construction bid proposal that was on the internet a year ago that talked about Phase 1 of Pioneer's LTE rollout, and covered this same area. It is basically a 27 mile stretch along the very east edge of Pioneer's territory, and Verizon's west edge of coverage.

He also told me that Pioneer will be launching the iPhone in the coming months as well. He said they are losing too many potential sales and customers to not offer the phone. One can use an iPhone in Pioneer's territory right now via Verizon, but it will be great for Pioneer to have it, as I for one would much rather support a local company than a national one.

[Trocks797]

I had a conversation with a Pioneer rep today at an event, he informed me that Pioneer will be launching their LTE system sometime in May, with 5 sites along US 81 from Okarche to Hennessey, OK, including the city of Kingfisher, where Pioneer's home office is located. That's it. The rest of Pioneer's territory to be covered in later phases, time indeterminate. This jibes with the construction bid proposal that was on the internet a year ago that talked about Phase 1 of Pioneer's LTE rollout, and covered this same area. It is basically a 27 mile stretch along the very east edge of Pioneer's territory, and Verizon's west edge of coverage.

He also told me that Pioneer will be launching the iPhone in the coming months as well. He said they are losing too many potential sales and customers to not offer the phone. One can use an iPhone in Pioneer's territory right now via Verizon, but it will be great for Pioneer to have it, as I for one would much rather support a local company than a national one.

Just make sure Pioneer doesn't have crazy roaming rules like Sprint did for you, in case you leave for whatever reason.

[ggore]

Just make sure Pioneer doesn't have crazy roaming rules like Sprint did for you, in case you leave for whatever reason.

Pioneer has nationwide roaming agreements with Verizon and US Cellular. Anyhoo I just started a 2-year contract with Verizon and am quite happy. After that, who knows.

[qtemt]

One change I observed today, not yet shown on the Verizon maps is their tower site in Iowa Park, TX is now live with LTE. I kept the signal till just a few miles from Electra, TX and that's decent size change from last month. Hopefully they'll continue building up US 287 this year.