LTE Markets/Rollout Official Discussion

[Andy84094]

Well, I've got a really fresh, tasty hat ready for someone, maybe me, to eat if they pull this off. We're 3 months into this year, and not much to show for it so far. My guess is it ain't happening.

You may be in for a surprise. As some of us have been trying to convey to you in this thread over and over again, despite not hearing anything in "official" PR channels, back-end work to meet this goal is ongoing 24/7. You will see large swaths of coverage going live in the coming months. Activating LTE on just 50 cell sites in a state like Wyoming will change the look of the map completely - stay tuned and hope that hat of yours is ready for you to eat.

[sprke81]

Activating LTE on just 50 cell sites in a state like Wyoming will change the look of the map completely

I agree it will make a big difference. However, it seems like it would take a year just to get the proper backhaul out to these rural sites. Looking at the current coverage map its kinda mind blowing how much work needs to happen yet... How many workers you think are working on this roll out nationwide?

[cinsu]

Verizon has been in various areas in the Midwest upgrading some 3g towers the past few months. Who is to say they have not been running the back haul during that time or for the past couple years since they started LTE service and just waiting to flip the switch? I have a feeling once everything is connected "the switch" can be flipped remotely.

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[bcltoys]

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...coverage4g.png This is what coverage look's like today boy there's got to be alot of red to fill up this picture.

[Andy84094]

I agree it will make a big difference. However, it seems like it would take a year just to get the proper backhaul out to these rural sites. Looking at the current coverage map its kinda mind blowing how much work needs to happen yet... How many workers you think are working on this roll out nationwide?

It most certainly does look mind blowing when looking at the current coverage map. However, VZW has been planning fiber backhaul to their cell sites for quite some time and upgrades, even in rural areas, have been underway for a very long time.

Not sure on the number of people working on this, but if you think about backhaul, switch upgrades, cell site upgrades, there are a lot of VZW, third party, and contractors working on this project.

[gvillager]

It most certainly does look mind blowing when looking at the current coverage map. However, VZW has been planning fiber backhaul to their cell sites for quite some time and upgrades, even in rural areas, have been underway for a very long time.

Not sure on the number of people working on this, but if you think about backhaul, switch upgrades, cell site upgrades, there are a lot of VZW, third party, and contractors working on this project.

+1 on this. It's entirely possible considering that they have a several billion $ budget and a few thousand people working on it.

[ggore]

You may be in for a surprise. As some of us have been trying to convey to you in this thread over and over again, despite not hearing anything in "official" PR channels, back-end work to meet this goal is ongoing 24/7. You will see large swaths of coverage going live in the coming months. Activating LTE on just 50 cell sites in a state like Wyoming will change the look of the map completely - stay tuned and hope that hat of yours is ready for you to eat.

Thank you very much for reminding me over and over and over and over again how Verizon is going to accomplish this goal. I appreciate it very much. Someone told me on another thread not to believe what company reps and corporate store personnel tell me when I relayed that I had been told by a corporate AT&T store manager that he had been told by corporate that they were not going to upgrade our EDGE coverage in this state to 3G this year after all. But I guess that doesn't apply in this thread. What Verizon support staff & reps say to people who post in this thread is gospel. Interesting. Makes no difference to me at all if either/neither is correct. I will be the first one to be pleased if Verizon accomplishes this goal because I will become a Verizon customer. But it won't be because of Verizon building an LTE system, it will be because a local company stuck their neck out, took a risk, and built an LTE system of their own. That will be excellent.

[Trocks797]

Thank you very much for reminding me over and over and over and over again how Verizon is going to accomplish this goal. I appreciate it very much. Someone told me on another thread not to believe what company reps and corporate store personnel tell me when I relayed that I had been told by a corporate AT&T store manager that he had been told by corporate that they were not going to upgrade our EDGE coverage in this state to 3G this year after all. But I guess that doesn't apply in this thread. What Verizon support staff & reps say to people who post in this thread is gospel. Interesting. Makes no difference to me at all if either/neither is correct. I will be the first one to be pleased if Verizon accomplishes this goal because I will become a Verizon customer. But it won't be because of Verizon building an LTE system, it will be because a local company stuck their neck out, took a risk, and built an LTE system of their own. That will be excellent.

Well look. All we have to go on is what we are told. Then we make a decision on whether or not to believe it.

Has Verizon been preping for LTE a lonnng time? Yes. We have seen the tower work long before LTE service.
Has Verizon been on the ball with the roll out so far? Yes. They covered over 200m people with it in under 13 months.
Has Verizon ever broken a promise or missed a goal? Doubtful. I certainly cannot think of a time when Verizon said they would do something, but failed to do so.

So going on that, it is hard to call their bluff, especially since it is only March. We used to know how Verizon rolled out LTE: they would talk about it in the middle of one month, then launch it the next. Now? They light up 17 towers around some random city and may or may not talk much about it. We have no idea what to expect. But we can expect every inch of EVDO to be covered by LTE by mid-2013. From what several people are hearing, the majority of this will be done by day 1 2013. If it happens, fantastic. If not, no big deal: Verizon never publicly stated it would be.

AT&T is a different story. Their track record shows they aren't the most dependable when it comes to network promises. I say relax and wait and see with the rest of us. :-)

[bcltoys]

Go cat's....

[daake_07]

So I just noticed that my rezound has been on EVDO rev A today and while I was in a smaller town it was on rev 0.

Was there a 4g outage today? I know my signal has been shotty but I wrote that off to being in a concrete house in the middle of nowhere.


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[TechAuthority]

Yes. Remember its already been stated that Verizon has moved up their 4G finish date to the middle of next year. 6 months already ahead of schedule.

That is awesome news. Especially for those of us not living in major cities.

[whitetigergrowl]

Well, I've got a really fresh, tasty hat ready for someone, maybe me, to eat if they pull this off. We're 3 months into this year, and not much to show for it so far. My guess is it ain't happening.

Going into 2012 they seem to be a little less concerned about press releases and more concerned about site activations.

Remember that I saw LTE go live temporarily in the outer Black Hills about a month prior to it actually happening. When it did go live it went live in stages. Spearfish and Whitewood went live first. Then Lead/Deadwood a few days later. Then Sturgis and Belle Fourche. They also stretched it farther east on I-90. Those cities went live just a few months after Rapid City did.

Cities like Pierre and Bismarck which are bigger than any of those cities have yet to go live.

Prior to them going live, I was told by our rep he would be told about a month ahead of time when they would be going live. He wasn't informed until almost a week or 2 after it happened. There were also numerous other stealth launches across the country. No real warning they were gonna go online until they did. The press releases came a short bit after they went live.

Will they have the entire 3G footprint converted to LTE by years end? I dunno but 2 things are playing into it.

1. They have been VERY aggressive at launching it nationwide as quickly as possible.

2. They are already testing VOLTE in a few cities and have mentioned spreading it nationwide by the end of this year. The only way that would be possible is if at least most of the 3G footprint was converted to LTE. I suspect most of the Dakotas and MN will be LTE by years end as well.

Cities are far more dense with towers and other crap. It's likely faster to convert 50 towers in Wyoming and make a good chunk of that state actually show LTE, than say 50 towers in Chicago and have something to show for it. If you want to sell more 4G phones, you have to start showing it's available in more than just big cities. You need to start connecting the dots.

Was I surprised the Black Hills outside of Rapid City lit up as soon as they did? Yes. There is still some 3G because of the tower on Terry Peak they don't know what to do with. Plus they just added a new tower near Keystone about a week ago. Plus they are trying to add a tower between Whitewood, Deadwood, and Spearfish. So it seems they have become aware of some of the problems in this area.

But my take? I suspect around 75%-85% of the country will be LTE by years end. More or less. But definitely in that ballpark. Especially if they want to start launching VOLTE by years end nationwide and have it spread out as fast as LTE.

[cinsu]

So I just noticed that my rezound has been on EVDO rev A today and while I was in a smaller town it was on rev 0.

Was there a 4g outage today? I know my signal has been shotty but I wrote that off to being in a concrete house in the middle of nowhere.


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Been trying to figure that out myself, a couple pages back I reported I am and have been on EVDO as well as a guy in Maryland and North Texas. I have been on EVDO since about noon yesterday.

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[qtemt]

Not sure when it changed back, but as of 9:20 PM in North Texas, we're back on eHRPD here on my GNex.

[ggore]

Well look. All we have to go on is what we are told. Then we make a decision on whether or not to believe it.

Has Verizon been preping for LTE a lonnng time? Yes. We have seen the tower work long before LTE service.
Has Verizon been on the ball with the roll out so far? Yes. They covered over 200m people with it in under 13 months.
Has Verizon ever broken a promise or missed a goal? Doubtful. I certainly cannot think of a time when Verizon said they would do something, but failed to do so.

So going on that, it is hard to call their bluff, especially since it is only March. We used to know how Verizon rolled out LTE: they would talk about it in the middle of one month, then launch it the next. Now? They light up 17 towers around some random city and may or may not talk much about it. We have no idea what to expect. But we can expect every inch of EVDO to be covered by LTE by mid-2013. From what several people are hearing, the majority of this will be done by day 1 2013. If it happens, fantastic. If not, no big deal: Verizon never publicly stated it would be.

AT&T is a different story. Their track record shows they aren't the most dependable when it comes to network promises. I say relax and wait and see with the rest of us. :-)

I am totally relaxed and have no problems at all. It's Andy84094 who couldn't handle someone making a comment on the subject and might need an aspirin. LOL