AT&T launches 4G LTE in 10 new markets ahead of iPhone 5 launch
AT&T has turned on its 4G LTE network in 10 new major cities across the U.S. in anticipation of Friday's launch of the iPhone 5, which is Apple's first 4G LTE capable smartphone.
In the last week, AT&T has activated its 4G LTE network in the following markets:
The addition of 10 new markets comes only a few weeks after AT&T turned on its 4G LTE network in nine other markets. The carrier has promised that 34 more will gain 4G LTE coverage before the end of the year, including Denver-Boulder, CO; Albany, NY; Detroit, MI; and El Paso, TX.
Current iPhone 4S owners on the AT&T network will see their signal advertised as "4G" in many markets. AT&T began advertising its HSDPA network as 4G because it is capable of 4G-like speeds, though it is not a true fourth-generation network.
Apple has addressed this distinction by displaying an LTE symbol in the upper left corner of the iPhone 5 and third-generation iPad when the devices have a true 4G LTE signal.
In the last week, AT&T has activated its 4G LTE network in the following markets:
- Birmingham, AL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Fayetteville, NC
- Honolulu, HI
- Memphis, TN
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Sacramento, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Wilmington, DE.
The addition of 10 new markets comes only a few weeks after AT&T turned on its 4G LTE network in nine other markets. The carrier has promised that 34 more will gain 4G LTE coverage before the end of the year, including Denver-Boulder, CO; Albany, NY; Detroit, MI; and El Paso, TX.
Current iPhone 4S owners on the AT&T network will see their signal advertised as "4G" in many markets. AT&T began advertising its HSDPA network as 4G because it is capable of 4G-like speeds, though it is not a true fourth-generation network.
Apple has addressed this distinction by displaying an LTE symbol in the upper left corner of the iPhone 5 and third-generation iPad when the devices have a true 4G LTE signal.
Comments
"Current iPhone 4S owners on the AT&T network will see their signal advertised as "4G" in many markets. AT&T began advertising its HSDPA network as 4G because it is capable of 4G-like speeds, though it is not a true fourth-generation network."
"Following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that “LTE-Advanced” and “WirelessMAN-Advanced” should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as “4G”, although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed. The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012." (1)
According to the International Telecommunication Union, AT&T's HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) is "4G" by current definitions. Additionally, AT&T doesn't refer to their HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) as "4G," AT&T refers to their HSPA+ network as "4G." Furthermore, referring to LTE (Long Term Evolution) as "4G" while referring to HSPA+ as "3G" is absolutely unforgivable. While the article doesn't specifically refer to LTE as "4G," suggesting that AT&T's HSPA+ network "is capable of 4G-like speeds" implies that LTE is "4G."
1. Sanjay Acharya and Grace Petrin. Published 6 December 2010. [URL=http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2010/48.aspx]ITU World Radiocommunication Seminar highlights future communication technologies[/URL]. [I]International Telecommunication Union[/I]. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
TLDR:
[LIST]
[*] AT&T refers to their HSPA+ network as "4G" not their DHSPA as "4G"
[*] AT&T's HSPA+ is defined as 4G according to the latest definition of the International Telecommunication Union
[*] Originally, only LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced were considered 4G (while LTE and DC-HSPA+ were considered 3G although much faster than EV-DO Rev A. feature of CDMA2000 such as offered by Verizon.
[/LIST]
What's with the abbreviation of the states? Did two different people write this article? (Penn. vs Pa.) Why couldn't you just use the standard 2-letter abbreviations?
I usually don't point out grammar errors, but this is an inconsistency and could easily confuse people unfamiliar with US states (that includes people living in the US unfortunately).
Meanwhile, Verizon already has LTE available in a town near me with a population of under 1,000, and with no major cities within about 100 miles from there.
Exactly! Verizon's LTE (Long Term Evolution) deployment has been very aggressive. Even if the iPhone didn't have LTE this year, 2012 would still have been the year of LTE as every high-end smartphone has a LTE model. Verizon (and smartphone OEMs) have really pushed AT&T and Sprint.
I don't want anyone mistaking my dispute with the facts in this article as an argument favoring AT&T. AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have been very slow in deploying LTE. I can only say in their defense that they all choose the wrong standard to support. The only caveat is that AT&T and T-Mobile will have excellent speeds in their failover networks versus horrible speeds in Sprint and Verizon's failover networks.
None of the carriers are innocent.
The confusion is because bloggers (and reporters) aren't accessing AT&T's newsroom and are, instead, relying upon users to report LTE signals in their regions.
According to AT&T on 20 September 2012, "AT&T recently launched 4G LTE in Birmingham, Cincinnati, Detroit, Fayetteville (N.C.), Honolulu, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle and Wilmington (N.C.)."
The complete list of AT&T 4G LTE regions is:
Birmingham, AL
Anchorage, AK
Phoenix, AZ
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
Bakersfield, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Modesto, CA
Oakland, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Bridgeport, CT
Wilmington, DE
Washington, D.C.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Miami, FL
Naples, FL
Orlando, FL
Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL
West Palm Beach, FL
Athens, GA
Atlanta, GA
Gainesville, GA
Honolulu, HI
Chicago, IL
Bloomington, IN
Indianapolis, IN
Lafayette, IN
Muncie, IN
Wichita, KS
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Worcester, MA
Detroit, MI
Kansas City, MO
St. Louis, MO
Omaha, NE
Las Vegas, NV
Albany, NY
Buffalo, NY
New York City, NY
Rochester, NY
Syracuse, NY
Burlington, NC
Chapel Hill, NC
Charlotte, NC
Fayetteville, NC
Greensboro-Winston-Salem, NC
Raleigh-Durham, NC
Wilmington, NC
Akron, OH
Canton, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Oklahoma City, OK
Portland, OR
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Lawrenceburg, TN
Memphis, TN
Nashville, TN
Austin, TX
Bryan-College Station
Corpus Christi, TX
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Houston, TX
San Antonio, TX
Waco, TX
Seattle, WA
*http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/pdf/4g_evolution_infographic.pdf
You might want to reconsider that...
I am in Philly with an iPad 3, and the LTE was turned on last week.
I am getting speeds of 25-30mB down, 10 up. Those are faster than VZs reported speeds right now.
Probably because there is no one on the network, but it is definitely fast.
Not to say you shouldn't switch, VZ is probably a better wireless co in general. Just didn't want you to think the Philly LTE was BS -- its up and working.
Getting 15mbit up/down here. Could go up depending on the location, we'll see.