Verizon CTO says that LTE launch is looking better each day

With Verizon's LTE network nowhere in sight right now, some may be feel a bit uneasy as the 4G race begins to heat up this year. There are a lot of items Big Red will need to overcome as they dive straight into its first commercial launches of their LTE network –fortunately though, now it seems they're more confident than they ever were before. During a Network World interview, Verizon's CTO Tony Melone made it clear once again as the number one wireless carrier plans to launch their commercial LTE network to approximately 25 to 30 markets this year and begin to execute a complete overlay of its 3G network in 2013. You can sense the confidence going around as Melone says that they're "ahead of where they thought they'd be as far as site readiness goes" and that their goal to launch in 25 to 30 markets in 2010 is "looking better each day, not worse each day." Stepping into another category surrounding LTE voice, Malone seemed less enthusiastic by saying, "The question for us will be whether our footprint will be sufficient at that point to provide customers with a good experience for voice over LTE, or whether we'll be better off offering 3G coverage for voice and 4G for data." Although some out there are already dreaming of this becoming a reality, it's at least nice to know that 4G data services with Verizon may be just right around the corner.

source: Network World via Engadget