You may have seen the press release today by Verizon Wireless on the results of their recent 4G LTE tests in Seattle and Boston:
“Trials in Boston and Seattle indicate the network is capable of peak download speeds of 40 to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) and peak upload speeds of 20 to 25 Mbps. The speeds are significantly faster than Verizon Wireless and other wireless providers’ current or promised 3G network speeds.â€
Of course, nobody should expect to get those kinds of speed in real life. Especially since they are projecting the you will eventually have to share that kind of bandwidth with perhaps 100 Million other users. But, it’s not as bad as it sounds. They have some very heartening news about what we should expect:
“Verizon Wireless engineers report LTE average data rates of 5-12 Mbps on the downlink and 2-5 Mbps on the uplink in real-world environments and will offer Verizon Wireless customers mobile browsing speeds comparable to customers’ current, typical online Internet experience.â€
Imagine having the same Internet experience, in terms of speed, that you expect in your home right now, with wired broadband! This just makes me salivate. If we can then get the kinds of next generation, always-connected, devices that I believe we will see during the rest of 2010, I believe that it may really be a game changer.
Now, you may be thinking “That’s great, but I don’t live in New York City, or a big city like that. No chance that I am going to see this in 2010.†Take a look at Verizon’s best statement of the whole release (at least in my opinion!).
“Our LTE rollout plan positions Verizon Wireless to be a global leader in 4G LTE deployment. We are on track to deliver an outstanding wireless data experience to customers in 25 to 30 markets covering roughly 100 million people by year’s end…â€
If you live in any kind of city at all, you have a good chance of having LTE available to you, and if the devices can fall back to 3G speeds, wow! I am all ready to stand in line for the Motorola Droid2, with LTE, as soon as someone tells me where and when. Let’s just hope that the present from Verizon is a reasonable price for these outrageous speeds!