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LTE is still not wide spread yet. So, why does anyone care?

H

hcho3

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 13, 2010
2,783
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Verizon is the only carrier with LTE rolled out. AT&T won't be launching until Q2 2011 and god knows if they will meet the schedule or not. Seems like they are not in much hurry.

Verizon already said they only cover 1/3 of US population for LTE network for now and there is only one LTE phone for Verizon.

We are almost reaching June/July month and iPhone is most likely be released soon and I doubt LTE will be expanded fast enough to reach even half of us.

Since Verizon is going away from Unlimited data, why would anyone care about LTE device?

what good is a lightening fast speed without unlimited data and wide coverage?
 
hcho3 said:
Verizon is the only carrier with LTE rolled out. AT&T won't be launching until Q2 2011 and god knows if they will meet the schedule or not. Seems like they are not in much hurry.

Verizon already said they only cover 1/3 of US population for LTE network for now and there is only one LTE phone for Verizon.

We are almost reaching June/July month and iPhone is most likely be released soon and I doubt LTE will be expanded fast enough to reach even half of us.

Since Verizon is going away from Unlimited data, why would anyone care about LTE device?

what good is a lightening fast speed without unlimited data and wide coverage?
Click to expand...

For those millions under the 4G blanket, they care greatly. Just because something at the moment doesn't work out for you doesn't mean there is no purpose to it. At the end of the day its about making money and cell companies are good at that.
 
Well for me being on ATT, I don't care about LTE at the moment. ATT will or has already rolled out HSPA+ this year which is plenty fast for me, and the next iPhone will most likely be compatible. Plus I have unlimited.
 
hcho3 said:
Verizon is the only carrier with LTE rolled out. AT&T won't be launching until Q2 2011 and god knows if they will meet the schedule or not. Seems like they are not in much hurry.

Verizon already said they only cover 1/3 of US population for LTE network for now and there is only one LTE phone for Verizon.

We are almost reaching June/July month and iPhone is most likely be released soon and I doubt LTE will be expanded fast enough to reach even half of us.

Since Verizon is going away from Unlimited data, why would anyone care about LTE device?

what good is a lightening fast speed without unlimited data and wide coverage?
Click to expand...

Many big markets are covered so we in those markets care a lot.

And we care b.c we get to keep our unlimited plan when they switch to tiered plans. Its a better option than getting an at&t iphone 4 or 5 when it comes out and being stuck with a 2 gb plan.

So we do have unlimited data and wide coverage in our markets so we could care less. You could use the same argument about AT&T's 3 g since they suck in a lot of places.
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
Well for me being on ATT, I don't care about LTE at the moment. ATT will or has already rolled out HSPA+ this year which is plenty fast for me, and the next iPhone will most likely be compatible. Plus I have unlimited.
Click to expand...

I'm an iPhone user, tried android and don't care for android. I'm happy with my AT&T iPhone speeds much better than VZW iPhone in my area.
 
s.hasan546 said:
Many big markets are covered so we in those markets care a lot.

And we care b.c we get to keep our unlimited plan when they switch to tiered plans. Its a better option than getting an at&t iphone 4 or 5 when it comes out and being stuck with a 2 gb plan.

So we do have unlimited data and wide coverage in our markets so we could care less. You could use the same argument about AT&T's 3 g since they suck in a lot of places.
Click to expand...

That's a concern of mine. I'm on an AT&T unltd data plan. With VZW it appears if you'll be grandfathered into iPhone unltd LTE data. With AT&T we are not sure.

But VZW can make you get a tiered plan for iPhone device.

Should one get an LTE android to potentionally be grandfathered into unltd LTE data?
 
I personally do not care about LTE at this moment. I am content with my 3G speeds. YouTube videos don't need to buffer when I select one, so I'm fine. Plus, LTE would just use more battery and possibly give carriers an excuse to charge more.

Verizon has LTE in my area though. But like I said, I really do not care at the moment.
 
mpossoff said:
That's a concern of mine. I'm on an AT&T unltd data plan. With VZW it appears if you'll be grandfathered into iPhone unltd LTE data. With AT&T we are not sure.

But VZW can make you get a tiered plan for iPhone device.

Should one get an LTE android to potentionally be grandfathered into unltd LTE data?
Click to expand...

I own a verizon store. From everything we were told. If you have a unlimited Data plan for either a 3g or 4g phone you keep it until you take it off. So you can go from an iphone 4 to a iphone LTE and keep an unlimited plan. You don't have to get a 4g droid right now just to keep it for an iphone launch.

Besides i doubt apple will released a LTE iphone until atleast 2012 summer
 
JD914 said:
I'm sure if iPhone had 4G LTE iPhone fan boys would care. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If it's in your area yeah if not who cares.

I have a friend who has the Thunderbolt and yes Verizon 4G is fast if you can use it but he don't have LTE where he lives only at work.
 
JD914 said:
I'm sure if iPhone had 4G LTE iPhone fan boys would care. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Right because the numbers are all that matters...

Battery life is more important for me than faster data with data caps.

With LTE iPhone, it is very likely both AT&T and Verizon will enforce limited data plans.
 
I want everyone to go to LTE so that i'll have 3G all to myself and enjoy a great experience! :rolleyes:
I don't find any need for faster downloading yet, i just need the phone to be better, hardware and software wise.
 
Fact: iPhone fans don't care about the latest and greatest in technology until it is announced at an Apple press conference.

Then suddenly everyone on this forum likes it.

Example: Lots of people thought dual core smartphones are unnecessary. Now that Apple has the Dual Core A5 out, it is necessary and important addition to the iPhone.
 
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lsvtecjohn3 said:
If it's in your area yeah if not who cares.

I have a friend who has the Thunderbolt and yes Verizon 4G is fast if you can use it but he don't have LTE where he lives only at work.
Click to expand...

well since work is the majority of the day i think thatd be reason enough ;)
 
icstars989 said:
Exactly. I'd much rather see them spend money upgrading their infrastructure than to buy t-mobile and gain theirs.
Click to expand...
You're missing the point.
That is one of the main reasons AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile.... for their network assets.
It's easier, cheaper and faster to buy something that already exists.
They will then sell off any duplicate infrastructure (as I'm sure the FCC will force them too) and can use those funds to fill in the gaps.
 
i personally dont care about LTE for now since AT&T wont be upgrading for a year and i have no desire to switch to Verizon. but i definitely dont want the first gen chipset due to their excessive power consumption. i'd rather Apple be late to the game so i dont have to choose between speed and battery life.
 
People buy phones with 2 year contracts so what is important isn't so much what is needed today but also what will be needed 1 to 2 years down the road and in that timeframe 4G will be more common so people may not want to get stuck on a 2 year contract for a 3G phone if 4G will be available in their area a year from now.
 
You should respect the fact that people may use their phones for years and not everyone must line up and buy the new iPhone as soon as it comes out every year. Future compatibility is always good. ;)
 
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