Sprint and Verizon head-to-head in '4G'
The '4G' race is well and truly underway in the US as Sprint promises to add 35 major cities this year and Verizon 25 to 30
Published: 1 March, 2010
READ MORE: US | Verizon | Sprint Nextel | LTE | WiMAX
The '4G' race is well and truly underway in the US, with Sprint and Verizon Wireless both talking up their expansion plans for 2010 and beyond - the former riding on the WiMAX network of its Clearwire joint venture, the latter kicking off its LTE roll-out.
Sprint sees its Sprint 4G WiMAX/CDMA service as increasingly strategic for growth in margins and high value customer acquisition, at a time when both metrics are faltering in its 3G business. This year, it will add services in the cities of Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC, plus some smaller markets. This will add to the 27 cities where the offering is already available. It is not only targeting consumers, but the growing machine-to-machine segment. Matt Carter, president of 4G at Sprint, said that, in particular, transportation, healthcare and public safety would be strong markets for WiMAX embedded services.
Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless will double the number of its LTE markets to between 50 and 60, by the end of 2011. This was the latest update from CTO Tony Melone, who said Verizon would achieve this figure 15 months after initial commercial launch, which is now expected in the second half of 2010. The carrier plans to cover 25 to 30 markets before the end of this year and then add LTE to its whole 3G footprint - about 94% of its sites - by the end of 2013.
In an interview with Network World, Melone said Verizon would also bring LTE into play to fill gaps in the 3G coverage, especially in rural areas, using the propagation qualities of its 700MHz spectrum.
The operator expects to offer average data rates of 5-12Mbps download and 2-5Mbps upload. It is currently evaluating devices, including about eight dongles. Melone said int he interview: "We continue to conduct validation testing in conjunction with initial commercial deployments. We expect that technology testing and assessments will continue as the LTE technology and standards are advanced."
Verizon and AT&T continue to slug it out in the advertising campaigns for their 3G services, but Sprint hopes to steal a march on both with its new slogan, 'What can you do with 4G?'. This revolves around promises that the WiMAX system can deliver 10 times better speeds than 3G, and will run over television, print and web ads. It features Sprint's Overdrive 3G/WiMAX personal hotspot, which allows a mobile broadband connection, and subscription, to be shared among several Wi-Fi devices.
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