4G network: AT&T to launch in five cities
4G network from AT&T – its next-generation wireless service – is set to launch this summer. Is your city on the list for its initial 4G network?
AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets President and CEO Ralph de la Vega (right) jokes with Dan Hesse, chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel during a CEO roundtable at the International CTIA Wireless industry conference in Orlando, Fla., March 22, 2011. AT&T is due to roll out its 4G network starting this summer in five cities.
Scott A. Miller/Reuters/File
NEW YORK – AT&T says it will launch its new, faster wireless data network this summer in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
The head of AT&T's Business Solutions unit, John Stankey, told investors Wednesday that the network will cover 10 more cities by the end of the year.
He says 20 phones and USB modems would be capable of using the network by then. Analysts don't expect the next iPhone model to be one of them.
The network will use a technology called Long Term Evolution. It's what the industry recognizes as a fourth-generation, or 4G, technology, though AT&T calls its current network "4G" as well.
Rival Verizon Wireless launched its LTE network in December, and touts it as providing download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second.