[mixtape86]

Speaking about connections, what is the ultimate difference between Rev A (Verizon's current version of connectivity) vs Verizon's new LTE? Now I know that LTE is far from being released, but as for speed and availability? Will we see both networks in rural areas or only major cities? Are any devices utilizing LTE or am I jumping years ahead of myself

I apologize if this thread is in the wrong area. I know it's more of a Blackberry connection question as opposed to a specific device.

[oI Platinum Io]

Verizon has put an informal date on when Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology will first be available: 2009. LTE offers raw rates of 100 Mbps downstream an 50 Mbps upstream in one of the expected configurations that carriers will roll out. Just two days ago, LG demonstrated the first LTE chips meant for production, but even LG wasn't claiming handsets would be ready before 2010.

Verizon's chief technology officer, **** Lynch, unexpectedly told a crowd at the Cisco C-Scape conference on Tuesday that his firm expected to have LTE in service by "this time next year." A Verizon spokesperson confirmed that Snyder made these remarks, but had no additional information to provide.

Carriers often like to deploy a single city or region at the last possible moment in a calendar year to gain bragging rights. Sprint Nextel put WiMax into production in Baltimore a few months ago, and, partly due to moving its WiMax assets to a new version of its former competitor Clearwire, the company hasn't yet expanded to a single additional city. (Portland, Ore., is apparently next.)

In Verizon's case, however, the company is now publicly committed to a schedule far faster than anyone predicted. Previously, Verizon and AT&T have made noises about a 2010 to 2012 timetable for the mass of LTE deployment. Both firms made large purchases of 700 MHz spectrum from other companies and at auction over the last year in order to have the bandwidth necessary for an LTE rollout. LTE will likely appear in versions that require 10 or 20 MHz per channel.

Verizon's Snyder also said that the company would release femtocells for LTE, which are in-home broadband connected gateways that use frequencies owned by a carrier. Femtocells have been promoted for years as a well to improve cellular voice and 3G data performance in the home or workplace by tying into user-provided broadband while using licensed frequencies. But femtocells are only starting to appear in tests by Sprint in the U.S., and a handful of carriers worldwide. (Femtocells are distinct from unlicensed mobile access or UMA, which BT, T-Mobile, and others have distributed; UMA uses WiFi for local connections, but ties into cellular back-end systems via an Internet connection.)

The informal announcement by Snyder may be an attempt to take some wind out of the newly recapitalized and reformed Clearwire. LTE is a competitor to WiMax, and LTE as it currently stands would deliver far more bits over the same hunk of frequencies. Verizon is also clearly trying to get a market edge over AT&T.

But bleeding-edge technology cuts both ways: It might provide an advantage to Verizon, or leave early adopters bloody and discouraged unless the right ecosystem of network access, devices, and service quality are available.

Little overview for ya.