2011 4G initial cities roll out

[mrsmith35sg]

In January VZW announced their initial 49 cities they'll be implementing 4G coverage? Is there any updates on this? If there goal is 170 markets by years end wouldn't this next round of 49 (on top of original 38 cities) have to be coming up soon? Just looking for any info i can find.

[Elkhornsun]

In many parts of the country this may be actually bad news. There is a finite amount of money available at Verizon and dollars spent in high concentration and high dollar value markets means fewer dollars for areas outside the city limits. I live 5 miles outside of the nearest town and as a result I cannot even get DSL much less 4G. A couple years ago Verizon had only converted half its towers to EV-DO and this conversion rate is not likely to get better with so many dollars being invested in 4G conversions. If 4G permits higher speeds per unit of time and there is widespread availability of 4G then it only follows that rates should be falling on a per GB basis but that is not what is happening. I can get 20GB for $60 a month from a 3rd party provider (Millenicom) while 20GB from Verizon costs me $180 a month. Go figure.

[GinaH_VZW]

Hi, the latest news was posted today about added coverage in 59 cities. The announcement also mentions ongoing plans with rural communication companies to develop rural partnerships in places with no current 3G coverage. 

http://news.vzw.com/news/2011/03/pr2011-03-21a.html

Check here for additional articles:

http://news.vzw.com/news/index.html

[zurya29]

While I've been a customer of Verizon since '98 and love their service and customer service, their rollout plan for 4G as it relates to Austin makes no sense whatsoever. Austin is nicknamed "Silicon Hills" for a reason. We have so many technology-based companies here and more are coming. So, why the heck would they not make 4G priority here, esp since Verizon 4G is available at our airport. No sense!!!