Verizon 4G LTE: the market-by-market rollout

Verizon just announced its financial results for Q3 2012, revealing increased smartphone and LTE adoption along with buoyant revenues. The wireless carrier added 1.5 million postpaid connections — its highest number in four years — and now has a total subscriber base of almost 96 million. Smartphone sales for the quarter rose to 6.8 million, accounting for 79 percent of postpaid phone sales. The 53 percent of the carrier's customers are now using smartphones. 4.5 million LTE devices were activated over the quarter, up from 3.2 million last quarter, and over 35 percent of all data traffic on Verizon's network is on LTE. As for the size of that ever-growing network, Verizon says that its LTE network now covers more than 250 million people in the US, over 80 percent of the country's population. That's up from the 75 percent coverage we last heard.

Increased smartphone and LTE use helped increase Verizon's average revenue per account (ARPA) from $143.32 to $145.42; a modest increase, but still significantly higher than last year's $136.57. Verizon's churn rate (the number of customers not renewing their contracts) rose slightly quarter-over-quarter to 0.91%, but that's still down from the 0.94% figure announced this time last year.

Nicola Palmer, Verizon’s CTO, spoke today at MobileCon about Verizon’s upcoming LTE roadmap. Today the company announces that it will launch service in its 400th market, Marquette Michigan, on October 18th — actually the total will be 417. Verizon has long had an advantage in LTE and despite inroads from AT&T and (to a lesser extent) Sprint, the company has a long lead in terms of LTE coverage and speed. In the face of these upstarts, Verizon was keen to re-establish itself as the LTE leader in the US. The goal is to mirror Verizon's entire 3G network with 4G LTE, and Verizon says it will get there by the end of 2013.

As a part of touting its LTE network, Verizon said that it had 11 million of its post-paid customers on its LTE network. The company pointed out that it is currently available in 300 markets, covering 75 percent of the US population — the company has introduced 37 different LTE devices to consumers since the launch of the network. That accounts for 35 percent of Verizon’s total data network as of the end of September, and the company expects that soon the majority of its traffic will happen over LTE.

Following on from AT&T’s recent LTE rollout, Verizon has added some new markets of its own in addition to expanding coverage in some existing areas. Android Central reports that Big Red's 4G service now covers additional cities in Kansas, Colorado, and Georgia, as well as some new markets in California, Idaho, Montana, Ohio, and Wyoming. Meanwhile, LTE coverage will further expand today across Illinois, as well as Nebraska and Minnesota. Both Verizon and AT&T have pledged to blanket the country with LTE by the end of 2013, with the most recent coverage announcements no doubt a reaction to the imminent launch of the iPhone 5 on Friday.

Verizon's LTE network will serve 75 percent of the US population after tomorrow when it launches in 34 new markets. The additional coverage includes smaller cities and suburbs like Hot Springs, Arkansas, Danville, Illinois, and Grand Forks, North Dakota, along with expanded coverage in 38 existing areas. Back in June, Verizon activated 46 new markets covering 200 million people, and this expansion will bring the total to 370. Verizon's 4G network now covers significantly more of the US than AT&T's LTE service — which began rolling out later than Verizon's — totaling only 47 markets in early July. While both Verizon and AT&T expect to complete their LTE networks by the end of 2013, it's good to see Verizon lighting up smaller cities and expanding into more rural areas.

Verizon has rolled out its LTE network more rapidly than we expected over the last year and change — late last year, the company hit a milestone of covering more than 200 million Americans, and now Verizon has announced its network will be available in more than 300 US markets as of tomorrow, June 21st. It'll hit this number thanks to a large rollout taking place tomorrow that will activate 46 new markets, with expanded service coming to 22 more areas. Unfortunately, the company didn't release any new data on how much of the US population it now covers, but we know one thing — it's a lot more than AT&T and Sprint currently cover.

We have to hand it to Verizon — it's pushing out its LTE network at a pretty remarkable rate. Just over a year ago, the HTC Thunderbolt launched as the first LTE-capable phone on the carrier, and now Verizon's announcing that its high-speed network will cover more than two-thirds of the US population, as of April 19th. That's the planned date for yet another large rollout — this one will encompass 27 new markets, and increase coverage in an additional 44. Verizon's plan was to have two-thirds of the country covered by mid-year, so the company appears to have soundly beat that goal.

As part of the announcement, Verizon noted that it's planning to have launched in over 400 markets by the end of 2012, covering some 260 million citizens. While LTE still provides a pretty big hit on battery life (unless you're using a Droid RAZR Maxx), we still like seeing next-generation service making its way to as many markets as possible. Sprint and AT&T definitely have some catching up to do.

Verizon's been in a flat-out sprint with its LTE network rollout, hoping to hit 400 markets by the end of next year. As of tomorrow, the carrier will be over halfway there: it's adding seven new LTE markets, bringing the total number to 203. Among the new markets are Naples, Florida and Greenville, North Carolina, with Dothan, Alabama — often noted as the Peanut Capital of the World — coming in as lucky number 200. Big Red will also be expanding its coverage in 17 existing markets, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. The expansion comes just in time to help potential new iPad owners make up their mind over which model to pick, and with Verizon rival AT&T not expected to add to its 40 LTE markets until April, Verizon won't have to worry about coverage competition anytime soon.

It took a little longer than we were promised, but Verizon has finally unveiled details of its 4G LTE service designed for residential use. HomeFusion will launch later this month, and is aimed at users in remote areas that can't get DSL or cable through traditional means. It'll cost you quite a bit more than a standard broadband package, with pricing starting at $60 a month for 10GB of data — and that's before you factor in $200 for the dedicated "cantenna" router, pictured above. The cantenna must be mounted on an outside wall, though beyond the cost of the device itself installation is free. HomeFusion will initially be available in Nashville, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama, but Verizon plans to roll it out to everywhere with LTE coverage by the end of the year. At the time of writing that'll open it up to at least 200 million Americans, with 4G coverage expected to catch up to 3G in late 2013.

It seems like every month, Verizon has more news about its LTE network, and December's no exception: with this latest expansion, Verizon's 4G LTE now covers 200 million Americans in 190 markets, making this the fastest network rollout in the company's history. To hit this milestone, Verizon turned on LTE in 11 new areas (including Manchester, NH; Lafayette, IN; and Poughkeepsie, NY) and expanded coverage in seven major metropolitan areas, including San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The pressure's really on T-Mobile now if it wants to continue claiming it has America's largest 4G network — we're guessing it'll need a new slogan sometime in 2012.

Verizon Wireless's 11 new LTE markets: Dover, DE.; Lafayette, IN.; Fitchburg / Leominster, MA; Duluth, The Rochester Area and St. Cloud, MI.; Manchester / Nashua, NH; Poughkeepsie, NY; Findlay / Tiffin and Youngstown / Warren, OH; and Indiana, PA.

Verizon is continually expanding its 4G LTE network, and this week, it announced the addition of four lucky communities in Massachusetts: Fitchburg, Leominster, Lunenburg, and Townsend. The rollout will happen on December 15th, joining all the other markets scheduled for that day. There are already 179 cities across America bathed in speedy red wireless service, and the regions announced continue to bring hope to those further away from major metropolitan areas. Wyoming, your day will come.

Verizon Wireless flipped the LTE-giving switch for 14 new cities today (for a total of 179), surpassing its previously-stated goal of bringing the high-speed wireless service to 178 markets by this date. In addition to a selection of new cities, the wireless carrier has expanded its 4G LTE coverage in Pittsburgh, PA; Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN; Louisville, KY; and Grand Rapids, MI. These additions have led the company to claim that it's covering 186 million Americans (that's well over 50 percent) with LTE. This keeps Verizon well ahead of AT&T in the LTE deployment race, but AT&T is trying to close the gap; the company says that it'll have 15 markets live by Sunday (November 20th). 

Verizon Wireless' 14 new LTE markets: Little Rock, AR; Savannah, GA; Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, IA; Lexington, KY; Starkville, MS; Kansas City and Springfield/Branson, MO; Lincoln, NE; Orange County, NY; Greater Providence, RI; Rapid City, SD; Roanoke, VA; and Appleton/Oshkosh, WI.

Want to take advantage of Verizon's doubled data cap plans for 4G phones but don't live in a 4G-covered area? Well, if that data-barren land you live in happens to be in Ohio or Pennsylvania, your luck might soon change. Verizon announced today that it's rolling out its LTE network to several new cities, including Youngstown, Warren, Campbell, Struthers, Poland, Boardman, Canfield, Austintown, McDonald, Niles, Findlay, Tiffin, Fostoria, Arcadia East, and Carey in Ohio, as well as Indiana, White Township, Homer City, and Blairsville in Pennsylvania. The company is planning to turn on the data speed upgrade on December 15th — just in time for you to enjoy fast mobile internet while your family carries out the embarrassing holiday traditions.