AT&T CFO John Stephens announced that the company will launch LTE data service in five major cities this Sunday, September 18. The company aims to have 70 million people covered by the data standard by the end of the year. According to a report from Fierce Wireless, AT&T had previously identified the cities as Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Though this will be the first rollout of LTE for the company, AT&T has already been selling devices that can take advantage of the network.
The wireless standard, which is incompatible with 2G and 3G because it operates on a separate section of the wireless spectrum, is known for its high upload and download speeds; ability to handle many users; and is designed to deal with devices moving quickly from one section of the network to another. LTE has also been closely associated with other wireless companies in the U.S., namely Verizon which launched LTE service last year. It’s worth noting that while AT&T’s year-end goals for coverage are certainly worthy, it lags behinds Verizon’s projected of 185 million users by the end of the same time frame. Clearly, they have some catching up to do.
(via Fierce Wireless)
Published: Sep 16, 2011 10:48 am