4G Network - Verizon uses LTE Technology

4G Network, Verizon announced to use Long Term Evolution technology (LTE) to support its new 4G ultra highspeed mobile broadband network. LTE is a technology developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) with up to 100 Mbit/s transfer speeds. LTE is an upgrade to High Speed Downlink Packet Access, a GSM implementation of a 3G cellular technology that is capable of providing speeds of up to 10 Mbps and global roaming.

LTE is potentially capable of 100Mbps downloads, 50Mbps uploads, and latencies of as little as 5ms (for small IP packets) for each 20MHz of spectrum available. LTE can handle up to 200 simultaneous users per 5MHz slice of spectrum.

Verizon had a choice of three competing 4G technologies: LTE, WiMAX, and UMB. UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) was formerly known as EV-DO Rev. C, and is supposed to be fully backwards-compatible with other CDMA technologies while providing a significant speed boost. The technology has had few takers so far, however, and Verizon's decision to move away from EV-DO may doom UMB to a niche. WiMAX looks more promising than UMB. In the US, both Sprint and Clearwire have embraced the technology.

Verizon and Vodafone, owners of Verizon Wireless, have a coordinated trial plan set to launch in 2008 using the following suppliers: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia-Siemens, and Nortel with devices manufactured by LG, Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. In addition to mutual compatibility with Vodafone, Verizon said in its Nov. 29 announcement, the decision to commit to LTE is driven by growing consumer demand for wireless data services and the expected explosion in devices containing embedded wireless connectivity.

Verizon said it will continue supporting its CDMA customers and expanding its existing 3G EVDO network for years to come. It's still unclear what the carrier plans to do once those customers start demanding 4G capabilities.