Exclusive: Verizon 4G LTE Launching This Year; LTE Roadmap Detailed
Watch out Sprint, Verizon is prepping its 4G network to go live this year with data cards and LTE handsets confirmed for the 2010 and 2011 roadmap to compete against your 4G WiMAX network.
Context & Ripple Effects
Verizon’s LTE plan has been in motion since its 2007 choice of LTE as its 4G direction, with a 2008 deployment target and a 2009 plan for mass deployment preceding this roadmap. In March, the carrier had already pointed to a first 4G handset the following summer; the confirmed device sequence turns that broad timetable into a nearer-term product transition.
The immediate competitive comparison is Sprint’s WiMAX service: Verizon is positioning LTE network access first through data cards, with handsets following on the 2011 roadmap.
First-order effects
- Verizon’s 4G rollout is set to begin with LTE data cards in 2010, while LTE handsets are assigned to its 2011 roadmap.
- Sprint’s WiMAX offer gains a directly competing 4G roadmap from Verizon, rather than competing only against an announced network strategy.
Second-order effects
- Device makers and component suppliers seeking Verizon’s 4G channel must align products to a phased launch that starts with data cards and moves to handsets.
- Verizon’s earlier first-4G-handset timetable becomes a clearer competitive marker for Sprint as each carrier seeks to attach devices to its respective 4G network.
Third-order effects
- If the carrier roadmaps hold, 4G competition shifts from network declarations toward the pace at which each carrier can pair coverage with usable devices.
- The LTE-versus-WiMAX contest will increasingly be shaped by handset availability and carrier roadmap execution, not network branding alone.
The trend: U.S. 4G competition is moving from competing network standards toward phased device ecosystems that determine when customers can actually use each network.