Verizon Wireless has accelerated its initial LTE rollout to 38 US cities, almost ten more than previously planned.
It also expects to start selling the iPhone from early 2011, breaking AT&T’s stranglehold on the device in the US market.
Verizon, the leading US operator, plans to build its network to 110 million people in 38 cities by the end of 2010, up from its previous target of 100 million in 30 cities.
Announcing the faster rollout at CTIA, chief operating officer Lowell McAdam said he expected six LTE devices to be available. from January.
The new network would offer average download rates of from 5-12 Mbps, with 2-5 Mbps on the uplink, he said.
Separately, Verizon will begin selling the iPhone 4 from early next year, WSJ.com reports.
The CDMA version of the iPhone will go into mass production by the end of the year and be released in the first quarter of 2011, the paper said.
Apple’s move to end its exclusive partnership with AT&T comes as it faces heated competition from Android, the world’s fastest-growing mobile OS and the biggest-selling in the US.
AT&T has had exclusive rights to sell the iPhone since its launch in 2007, but has attracted frequent complaints from users over patchy network coverage and poor download speeds.