LTE stands for "Long Term Evolution", and is essentially the next generation of GSM. It is expected to produce peak download speeds of at least 100Mbits/sec, even though current implementations are still short of that spec (Verizon's LTE I believe is 40Mbps at peak). Of course, 40Mbps is still insanely fast compared to anything else available today, wired or not. The other key thing about LTE is that there is no separate voice channel unlike 3G bands -- it's all data, and any 4G voice services will be provided as VoIP. Ultimately it is expected that as 4G wireless becomes mainstream, dedicated voice channels ala 3G GSM & CDMA will be phased out altogether. One important advantage that LTE has over Sprint's 4G WiMAX is the frequency band - Sprint's WiMAX is in the 2.5GHz band, while Verizon LTE is in the 700MHz band. Why this is important is that lower frequency bands mean better building penetration, which means better service/coverage, less dropped calls, etc. Sprint is ahead of everybody in terms of rollout/coverage, but when all is said and done, LTE will be a better option than WiMAX. AT&T is expected to begin their own LTE rollout in the summer, also in the 700MHz band. As for choice between providers, here's what my opinion is: Today, the best combination of value, coverage quality and service is still Sprint, far and away. Their plans combined with their corporate discounts are awesome -- I currently pay about $56 plus taxes for unlimited calls to any mobile, unlimited texts, unlimited data and basically whatever the heck I want. And their coverage is almost as good as Verizon's, plus you get to roam on Verizon's network for free. Coverage and technology wise, Verizon is as good as it gets -- they are clearly ahead of the pack. However, they are also the most expensive option, with the highest monthly rates, $350 ETFs and (as of January 2011) no more early 1 year upgrades. T-Mobile's "4G" is actually more or less "3G+" - HSDPA+ with 12Mbps peak speeds (I hear there is an update that will bump that up to around 42Mbps later). But while their rates are good, I consistently hear bad things about their coverage, so stay away. As for the issues you have with AT&T, at one point it was true that iPhone users pretty much overloaded the network. They have since made significant efforts to boost their capacity, but they will never be able to provide the type of coverage that Verizon and Sprint do because of the fundamental limitations of GSM/CDMA2000. That will change as they transition to LTE in the future, though. Availability of phones is another subject entirely though. Verizon has the best smartphones. In fact, if you're switching to Verizon, unless you really are married to the iPhone platform, there's no shortage of amazing phones available, like the Bionic and the LG Optimus. The Verizon iPhone is expected to be an EvDO device which means no LTE/4G, but don't take that to the bank as Apple has been known to pull tricks out of a hat unexpectedly. AT&T has some great phones coming its way too -- the Atrix videos were mindblowing. Right now the Evo is still the best Sprint has to offer, but I think in the next few months we will see some great stuff for Sprint as well. I'm seriously considering switching to AT&T though in the long term for the LTE tech advantage.
As an Android user on AT&T, this is great news. Finally, AT&T will have a strong selection of smartphones. Good riddance to that ****ty Apple phone.
As an iPhone user (and Android fanboy...awkwardddd) on AT&T I agree. AT&T knew it was coming and did the first great thing they've done outside of the iPhone in a while. They stepped there **** up and got 2 great phones and 1 out of this world (Atrix). Keep this up and nobody will miss the iPhone....getting the Atrix 4G when it comes out, jumping from the iPhone 4
I left AT&T due to lack of Android devices. The HTC Aria was nice, but it'll never get 2.2 Although, I'd go with a Samsung Captivate (galaxy s) I went with Sprint and got a different Galaxy S, the epic 4g. I never experienced problems with at&t coverage wise though, nor sprint. just tmobile.
Aria has had 2.2 for a while through CyanogenMod, not saying I would get it though. That actually is a good point, I REALLY hope the Atrix gets rooted, and not the BS root that other Motorola phones have been getting (Droid X, Droid 2)
Oh man...don't even get me started. Constant dropped calls every hour No connection for 15-20 min Internet sucked even more then that And I was with them for 5-6 years and countless different phones so it was never the handset that was the problem. And it wasn't just downtown either. Same thing in suburbs. Same thing when I traveled. Don't know how they are in business.
Since I drive around and off interstates a lot, there's no way I'm going with TMoble. They're cheap, but it's not worth it to me if I can't make a phonecall. I once had TMobile and worked for a company where the service died as soon as I entered the building. It was 4-5 bars outside the building. The company moved locations to a building 10-15 miles away. Again, 4-5 bars outside the building. Once I got into the building, it dropped to 1-2 bars if I was lucky. Then I go off interstates and can kiss my coverage goodbye randomly. I doubt I'll be getting anything other than AT&T or Verizon coverage anytime soon.
***** the ifone! jk. Sorry for the language hope this doesn't pass the filter i just has to after i saw the title
I really hope Verizon doesn't cripple/bastardize their version of the iPhone. Either way, I can't afford their service compared to what I'm paying for T-Mobile.
here we go. http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/11/live-from-verizons-iphone-event/?sort=newest&refresh=60
Wellp.. it's CDMA. Comes out next month... they could've honestly just released a press release. It's the same phone.
This is completely and utterly false. LTE is an overlay on the gsm network and verizon and t-mobile are the ones that will have to catch att. ATT has been building toward lte since it began it's gsm network so the transition is going to be much quicker.
Also concerning ATT and LTE: At an event at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, AT&T finally offered details about its plans for 4G coverage. At today's Developer Summit, the telecom giant revealed that it plans to launch its 4G LTE network by the middle of 2011. In addition, AT&T says its HSPA+ deployment—a technology T-Mobile is touting as 4G—now covers "virtually 100 percent of its mobile broadband network" with customers seeing download speeds of up to 6Mbps (T-Mobile's flavor claims to offer download speeds of up to 21Mbps). "AT&T is the only U.S. company committed to both HSPA+ and LTE technologies," said Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility. "Today our customers are benefitting as we repeatedly increase speeds on our mobile broadband network. As we accelerate our LTE network build, our customers will have blazing fast LTE speeds and when they go off LTE, they will still have faster mobile broadband speeds with HSPA+—something our competitors will not be able to match." AT&T plans to have the nationwide LTE rollout complete by the end of 2013 and says that two-thirds of its mobile traffic will have access to fiber or Ethernet backhaul by the end of this year. Of course, all that 4G bandwidth is no good without devices, and AT&T plans to make 20 4G devices available by the close of 2011. There will be at least two 4G smartphones hitting the market in the first quarter, and five to seven 4G gizmos by the end of June. The first 4G smartphones to arrive from AT&T will be the Motorola ATRIX and HTC Inspire 4G, both of which are Android 2.2 devices scheduled to arrive during the first quarter. During the second quarter, AT&T customers will have access to the Samsung Infuse 4G, with a 4.5" display and 1.2GHz CPU. The Infuse will be an AT&T exclusive as well. AT&T will also have a 4G tablet—presumably Android—available by "mid-summer."
The Atrix and Bionic will be crushing the iPhone away. Unless Apple has something stunning coming up for the iPhone 5 in June, this Atrix will crush everything else on AT&T... and the Bionic will be the best thing on Verizon. Seems as though the rumors for WWDC 2011 are that it's supposed to be mainly surrounded around Mac OSX 10.7 and not iOS or any devices.
I don't think Verizon's network will be ruined once the flood of iphones come in. CDMA works differently than GSM in that aspect
This is a myth. Tests and studies have already shown that data use on Verizon and Sprint is much more than ATT. The network on ATT just blows......
