Long Term Evolution (LTE) is another one of those buzzwords we have been hearing a lot about recently. That’s because a number of the carriers are preparing to convert all their 3G networks over to 4G LTE ones. Verizon is no different and we have commented a number of times on their progress on upgrading their spectrums and networks. Today, Verizon Executive, Mike Haberman expanded on the carriers plans for their LTE roll-over. These mainly consisted of Verizon’s plans for carrier aggregation and increasing their VoLTE coverage.
The most relevant announcement of the day came in the form of the carrier aggravation. Haberman announced that in preparing to make sure there are no issues later on, they have already commenced testing of their networks. For those unfamiliar with carrier aggregation, this is a common testing process which bonds together disparate spectrum bands creating wider channels which product more capacity and speedier connections. In short faster bitrates are achieved. Haberman did add though, that he was not in any particular rush to roll-out carrier aggregation. As many of their networks already contained the needed 20x20MHz blocks. Haberman did also add that Verizon already have plenty of 10x10MHz blocks across their network which can be merged via carrier aggregation. It is expected by Mid-2015 Verizon will be aggregating 10×10 MHz blocks in the 700MHz bands. Which by the way AT&T have already managed to do. It is worth noting that when this is achieved, not all devices will be able to utilize the technology, which means it is likely Verizon will have to roll-out software updates to make devices compatible.
In terms of the VoLTE, Haberman did note that the deployment so far “has been excellent”. Verizon did initially start their VoLTE back in September and according to Haberman, Verizon now has five android devices supported by the VoLTE service. In terms of the future, Haberman added that VoLTE will become their default video calling serving once its “matures” enough to be able to be widely used. As for when this will be, Haberman was less willing to comment. A last aspect worth noting, is that Haberman also did announce that Verizon will be launching an LTE femtocell in the (near) future. This will offer customers a boosted indoor signal and much better indoor coverage and consumers will be able to buy one when they are released.