Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) is expected to soon begin friendly customer trials of LTE in five markets, and one of those markets likely will be Seattle. According to TechFlash, Seattle is one of the five markets slated for friendly LTE customer tests, and will also be one of the 25 to 30 markets where LTE will be commercially deployed by year-end.
Earlier this month, Verizon Wireless said its LTE technical trials were complete, and it would move into the friendly-user-trial phase in five unnamed cities. Verizon had been testing LTE in Boston and Seattle. The Boston trials showed data speeds of between 5 and 12 Mbps on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps for uplink speeds.
Seattle is becoming a hub for high-speed wireless broadband technology deployments. Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) offers its mobile WiMAX service in that market, and the city of Seattle recently applied for a $17 million federal grant to build a municipal LTE network that can be used by city departments, hospitals, colleges and low-income housing authority residents. The city expects to learn by Sept. 30 whether it will receive that grant, which will help fund a $23 million public/private partnership that will build the LTE network.
For more:
- see this TechFlash article
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