Verizon may complete LTE buildout by 2014

Verizon Wireless may finish building out its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network by 2014, according to an Unstrung interview with Roger Gurnani, senior vice president of product development at the carrier. Although Gurnani wasn't specific, he offered a year-by-year outline of the carrier's buildout.

Gurnani said Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest operator, will have a couple of LTE test markets up and running by the end of 2009, and "30 or so" markets running in 2010.

"From there we'll build it out in the next two, three years, where we'll have LTE deployed throughout our footprint," Gurnani said in a video interview. 

In an interview in February with FierceWireless, Verizon Communications CTO Dick Lynch said, "I can demonstrate a commercial system this year. I can show you a footprint of respectable magnitude in 2010." Added Lynch: "I am confident that while it's aggressive and I won't say that there won't be a few bumps in the road along the way, I am comfortable that LTE has essentially been primed for a good launch in 2010."

Verizon revealed its LTE vendors, including Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, during the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona in February.

Verizon's LTE buildout plans are some of the most aggressive in the world. In the United States, MetroPCS has said it will launch LTE in the second half of 2010 and AT&T Mobility has said it will launch LTE in 2011. 

For more:
- see this Unstrung article [1]

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