A huge 4G milestone: LTE is now available for 98% of Americans

[sparkyscott21]

Over 98% of Americans now have access to LTE services, this according to a report on Monday in The Verge. Now to be clear, this isn’t to say that 98% of Americans are using LTE supported phones, but rather that nearly all Americans now live in areas where LTE network support is available.


As The Verge writes:

Verizon Wireless has advertised for over a year that it covers precisely that many Americans with LTE, but now the government officially approves of that figure, according to the latest data from the Commerce Department. Back in 2011, when President Obama first announced that milestone as one of the administration’s goals, the nation’s largest carrier provided LTE to just over half of the US population. 3G service, meanwhile, was available to only 95 percent of the population. The administration provided $7 billion in funding to help bring wireless networks up to speed across the nation, and it credits its high-profile spectrum auctions with helping make nationwide LTE a reality.
Indeed, over the past few years there’s been a discernible explosion in 4G coverage. As of today, AT&T LTE towers cover more than 300 million Americans while T-Mobile’s network can cover upwards of 250 million Americans. By the end of 2015, T-Mobile is planning to cover 300 million Americans.

Verizon of course has the largest 4G LTE coverage of all major U.S. carriers. The map below drives the point home.

3-24-15

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[sparkyscott21]

It figures, here in northern Michigan I am lucky to even get service 1/2 the time... Then it's barely 3g at that...