[calicocat2010]

I don't know if this has been posted but maybe our prayers have been answered about LTE and when it could be in the process of development.

AT&T Announces Summer LTE Rollout Plans
by Kevin Krause on May 25th, 2011 at 9:33 am

AT&T�s network is about to get a big boost when the carrier commences their 4G LTE rollout this summer. Plans were first announced last fall, but since then details of when and where we would see AT&T�s next-gen network cropping up have remained scant. Today the carrier revealed the first five cities to get blanketed in LTE, and committed to pushing the wireless standard to at least 10 more cities by the end of the year.

It all starts with Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Antonio, which doesn�t exactly create the most wide-reaching coverage area. AT&T plans to have 70 million Americans within their LTE network before next year and will bring 20 new 4G devices to service them. Many of those devices will be HSPA+ only, but at least some will be LTE-ready. Full press statement below.

AT&T�s 4G Evolution

Dallas, Texas, May 25, 2011

By John Donovan, AT&T Chief Technology Officer

AT&T has delivered five mobile broadband speed upgrades in recent years, including our HSPA+ deployment last year. And average nationwide speeds on the AT&T network have increased - more than 40 percent over the past two years alone.

The next network evolution will arrive this summer with the addition of LTE in five markets - Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and San Antonio. We plan to add another 10 or more markets in the second half of the year, and cover 70 million Americans with LTE by year-end. We also have plans to add 20 4G devices to our robust device portfolio this year, with some of those being LTE capable.

We�re positioning to deliver a great mobile broadband experience in the near term with HSPA+ and a growing LTE footprint.

We�ve invested $75 billion in our wireless and wired networks over the last four years - more capital invested in the U.S. than any company in any industry. And we plan to invest $19 billion in our wireless and wireline networks and other capital projects this year. The investments we�ve made to evolve our mobile broadband network in recent years, plus what we have planned for the future, put our customers in position to benefit fully from a host of coming mobile broadband innovations.

AT&T Announces Summer LTE Rollout Plans

[Zach7]

Saw the news release. Kinda cool. Will spark discussion about speed for sure!

[stardotstar]

what will this do for my BB 3G, which ATT service here in Houston is spotty at best?

[Snick Snack]

what will this do for my BB 3G, which ATT service here in Houston is spotty at best?

3G will continue to be available for a few more years. The LTE rollout will take a little while, probably when it finally is a strong enough network (meanting available in more then just the major cities) it will be around the same time a QNX phone comes out.

3G phones will not be able to access the 4G system. It's a completely different band width.

[stardotstar]

Thanks, I was hoping this would HELP 3G service, but appears it will be of no help for coverage and signal.

Thanks

[grahamf]

Wonder what they are going to advertise this network as, since their 3G+ network is now "4G"

[jlspeed29]

Means nothimg for us BB holders :/

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[qbnkelt]

This will take frever to get to me!!!!

[K Bear]

There's no way we'll see this any time soon. I'm just surprised I have HSPA+ my home. AT&Suck is the only provider other than that offers 4G speeds out here. I can't image when & if LTE will make it here. The T-Mobile merger won't help since we only get 2-3 bars of EDGE with them. Sprint gave us 3G, but no WiMax.

[Rootbrian]

Meh, 4G. lol

That's my opinion. It's really 3.5G. speedtest.net with the measurement set to Kilobytes per second will prove it, once they get the blackberry app rolled out. Until then, test it on a droid to verify the "4G" claims. if it doesn't break or bust out past 300, 400, 500, 600 or 700 KB/s, you know that the network cannot handle that speed regardless of the claims made. it busted roger's *** for lying, busted telus's, only 1024 kb/s on their "21 MegaBytes per second" network.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com