LTE Markets/Rollout Official Discussion

[ilvla2]

Looks like things may be slowed this month with plans for the tropical storm now impacting the Gulf Coast. I would guess minimal expansions in September

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

It's set to become a Category 2 Hurricane by the time it reaches the US.

[wvcellphoneman]

How can I tell they are ready to launch lte in weirton,wv/steubenville,ohio? I get 4g off and on in areas of both places but unfortunately NOT where I work even though a water tower with an antenna is 1/2 to 3/4 mile away.

[iowacingular]

I heard from a friend that works for corp VZW that Clear Lake, IA was in testing last week per customer reports. I'm guessing a chunk of I-35 south of Albert Lea to Mason City/Clear Lake may open up this fall. I'm currently living in a tiny town called Greene, IA that is still on native VZW 1X (former Alltel site), regardless of what the coverage maps say. There is also a 1X only tower in the town of Rockwell, IA. 4G phones don't do well at all on 1X - I spend probably about a third of the time with full signal 1X, a third on weak 3G, and a third of the time with no data service at all, even though I have full voice signal on my Razr Maxx. I believe there are still a few other rural 1X sites left in Iowa and Minnesota, although a lot have been converted to 3G in the past year or two. USCC really runs the show in some of these towns and I suspect VZW is having a hard time justifying 4G or even 3G in some of the really rural areas.

[drewsdroid]

iowacingular: I suspect VZW is having a hard time justifying 4G or even 3G in some of the really rural areas.

When they bring 4G LTE there they should upgrade the towers to 3G at that time. Do you know if you are roaming there? They brought 4G LTE last week to my rural hometown which is a strong AT&T territorry, I am the only one I know that has Verizon in that town. Give them some time and they will bring it to your area.

[racedog]

I suspect VZW is having a hard time justifying 4G or even 3G in some of the really rural areas.

We are in an extremely rural area of Kansas and we have had LTE for the last two or three weeks now. But, the reason we have it is because we are not far off I-70 and that is a heavily used interstate. Kansas has been covered by Verizon 3G for years and no other service provides the coverage and options that Verizon does here in Kansas. ATT does not even offer service in our area, TMO is a joke and Sprint has only the barest coverage right off the interstate but the interior areas are all roaming. Verizon is almost 100 percent native coverage, and that is why we stay with them. I imagine that the interior areas of Kansas will get LTE last now that the major interstates are now covered and so are the major and minor cities in Kansas (with a few exceptions).

R

[ilvla2]

Verizon (and I imagine the other carriers as well) is using a hybrid fiber/microwave setup here in the west to get LTE deployed to rural areas like ours-

Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT) may not be a wireless operator, but its win to provide Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) with wireless backhaul services for its ongoing 4G LTE wireless network push shows that it's very much part of the wireless industry.
Under the terms of the agreement, Level 3 will provide wholesale backbone infrastructure and cell-site backhaul solutions to support Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE rollout in rural parts of New England and in West.
Leveraging its Tower Access solution, which combines fiber and microwave-based connectivity, Level 3 will provide Verizon backhaul service to existing cell towers with a mix of new on-site tower construction and colocation at Level 3 sites


Read more: Level 3 wins hybrid fiber/microwave wireless backhaul deal with Verizon Wireless - FierceTelecom http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/l...#ixzz24y5bhnbH
Subscribe: http://www.fiercetelecom.com/signup?...-FierceTelecom

"While Level 3's first line of attack is to use fiber, in some cases they just can't cost justify making that investment in Verizon Wireless' rural areas, for example, they'll use microwave solutions from various partners.Already present in the vast majority of the U.S.-based wireless MSCs, Amanda Tierney, VP Wholesale Market Management, Level 3, said in a recent interview with FierceTelecom "where it makes sense to build out fiber we will and where it makes sense to bring another solution to bear we'll do that."
Tierney added that "microwave has been a great way to solve the problems" they face in reaching cell towers in hard to reach areas.

With the Tower Access product, Level 3 will break out an ILA node, or the regeneration sites that reside every 50-60 miles on its fiber network, and leverage microwave to serve cell towers at any point on its network.
"If one of our customers has a number of towers in a particular area and they are having a difficult time finding a way to reach those towers, we can splice open a node in our network and aggregate those towers with a microwave solution,"


Read more: Level 3 wins hybrid fiber/microwave wireless backhaul deal with Verizon Wireless - FierceTelecom http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/l...#ixzz24y5VCH8t
Subscribe: http://www.fiercetelecom.com/signup?...-FierceTelecom

http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/l...ess/2011-04-21

My county in Northwestern California, Mendocino is very rural, rugged and heavily forested (including Redwoods that can reach 375 feet in height), so much of the backhaul here is done via microwave, often what they do is put one site in an area where it can get as much fiber and/or copper as possible, then backhaul several outlying sites to it via microwave.

Also, if you are near rail lines there's a good chance fiber is nearby as well, railroads are some of the largest users of fiber for communications, as well as renting space along their ROW's to fiber companies.

[iowacingular]

When they bring 4G LTE there they should upgrade the towers to 3G at that time. Do you know if you are roaming there? They brought 4G LTE last week to my rural hometown which is a strong AT&T territorry, I am the only one I know that has Verizon in that town. Give them some time and they will bring it to your area.

I hope you are right, I'd be happy with 3G at this point. I am definitely not roaming - it was a 1X site with Alltel and has never been upgraded. I bet you're getting some super fast speeds being not many with Verizon there!

[richmond23]

Hutchinson, KS now has 4G LTE. Just launched today.

[jeffro01]

Hutchinson, KS now has 4G LTE. Just launched today.

Thats awesome... Just in time for the State Fair as well...

Jeff

[richmond23]

Thats awesome... Just in time for the State Fair as well...

Jeff

Yessir. I don't have a 4G LTE capable phone but Im glad to see that its been deployed here now. I noticed my 3G speeds are just touch bit faster now on my 4S. I had several speed tests of 2mb down today in different areas of town That has never happened before here. Could have just been a coincidence but I think not.

[wvcellphoneman]

when will I know for sure that my area is 4G? There are alot of areas that are 3G still for some reason. Like where I work (which is a retail store) is 3G only.

[cinsu]

when will I know for sure that my area is 4G? There are alot of areas that are 3G still for some reason. Like where I work (which is a retail store) is 3G only.

You can check the towers for LTE panels however this isn't an exact since a lot of times they are put up days or months in advance.

You can check news.Verizonwireless.com at the very bottom of the page Verizon does their PR releases. These are usually done every day until approximately the middle of the month when they will turn on all the cities they just announced. They also do a generic PR the day of or a couple days before that lists all the area to be enabled that month. 4G will usually be enabled the week before the official date but may be intermittent. The coverage map is generally updated the day of the official turning on. You can ask a store rep but they usually are not privy to that information even though they may claim to be.

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[drewsdroid]

WVCELLPHONEMAN: when will I know for sure that my area is 4G? There are alot of areas that are 3G still for some reason. Like where I work (which is a retail store) is 3G only.

There are a few indicators the first one is the towers will be upgraded with LTE panels. Secondly about a month or less to go-live you will experience a night of 1X from approximately 12AM-1AM and they shut down 3G to get everything ready for 4G. Thirdly and this is the last step when they do this it is probably a week away in most cases, The fiber optic internet provider for the tower will turn up their circuit for LTE. Usually they will turn it up on Sunday, the tower technicians will come out and make sure everything is ok. Then one night at 12AM they turn 4G LTE on. When your 4G device sees it will automatically connect. (in most cases)

[wvcellphoneman]

what is an lte panel? I've been getting 4g off and on but verizon says that I shouldn't be getting 4g at all.

[wvcellphoneman]

Is there any official word on weirton/steubenville or is verizon right that it is a fluke?