AT&T Reveals Swift New LTE Network

AT&T customers will be happy to hear that the long awaited, much talked about 4G LTE network, first announced in May of this year, now has an official launch date. Mark your calendars for this Sunday, September 18th 2011. Trial tests conducted in AT&T’s Plano, TX laboratory have shown upload speeds of 10.4Mb and download speeds as fast as 28.8Mb. While these numbers may drop once customers begin to share ‘cell waves,’ even if they were to run at half that speed it would still be twice as fast as Verizon’s burgeoning LTE network, which advertizes upload speeds between 2 and 5Mb and download speeds between 5 and 12Mb. Verizon Wireless has been inundated with a long streak of bad luck this year, including 45,000+ workers going on strike, poor customer service rankings for their LTE network, and a mysterious death of a Wireline technician that is currently under investigation. AT&T’s CFO, John Stephens announced the new launch date for the Atlanta, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, and Houston areas. AT&T also announced plans to make the new LTE network available in an additional 10 markets before the year’s end, along with a promise to provide at least one LTE smartphone before the holiday season is over – which is especially important due to the fact that the rising number of providers offering true 4G networks will only increase its popularity. Currently it is selling the 4G LTE compatible HTC Jetstream tablet PC as well as a modem and mobile hotspot. Regardless of how it compares against Verizon Wireless, AT&T’s new LTE network will be a dramatic step up for customers. According to a report put out by GigaOM, for the iPhone 4 AT&T is promising upload speeds of 1.2Mb and download speeds of 3.7Mb on its HSPA+ network. However, there is some debate as to when Apple will have a 4G compatible device ready for its new network. While both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have made claims that they will provide a solid number of 4G Android phones in 2011, the quickly upcoming release of the new fifth-gen iPhone means it’s more than likely that it will not be 4G ready. That means we need to wait until about half way through 2012 when the sixth-gen iPhone is released before benefiting from the speed upgrade. We’d like to know your thoughts on both Verizon Wireless and AT&T’s LTE networks – do you think they’ll stand up to all the hype?