The LTE wars are about to get rather interesting again. In order to adapt to the growing popularity and need for LTE services, T-Mobile has quietly activated a faster service in North Dallas, utilizing an additional spectrum that it got its hands on through its MetroPCS acquisition.
US mobile carriers are stepping up their game as more and more people use their mobile devices for accessing large amounts of data. Verizon, after admitting the congestion of its current LTE network, has turned on its new 4G LTE network in a limited number of cities across the country. Verizon aims for download speeds of up to 80 Mbps by utilizing a 40 MHz spectrum it acquired via its Advanced Wireless Services acquisition. AT&T is also in the process of upgrading its LTE speeds through a series of smaller adjustments involving small and macro cells and distributed antenna systems.
Naturally, T-Mobile won’t be taking things sitting down. It is also boosting its LTE speeds but via a different route. Using spectrum acquired from MetroPCS, T-Mobile is working on what it calls 20-by-20 service, which doubles the 20 MHz spectrum currently in use by LTE networks. T-Mobile network vice president Grant Castle reveals that the company has been working on this project for quite a while. However, it is expected to only start rolling out this improved network by next year. On the other hand, its 10-by-10 LTE service should soon be going out to 40 of the top 50 markets in the country before the year’s end.
Castle boasts that its approach is special in that it doesn’t require new kinds of hardware to take advantage of the increased speed. The 20-by-20 service will work with any LTE-capable device, unlike Verizon’s AWS-based network which, at the moment, only has very limited hardware compatibility.
VIA: AllThingsD
