Verizon Wireless Plans to Offer 4G Capability Next Year

(PhysOrg.com) -- In today's world, we want our information to travel faster. This is especially true as smart phones take over and we become used to using smaller devices to accomplish more while we are away from home. Verizon is hoping to keep up with this trend with the development of a 4G network.

Yes, it seems like only yesterday that 3G was state-of-the-art. But a couple of weeks ago Verizon tested 4G in Boston and Seattle and found that it worked out. CNET News reports on Verizon's plans for 4G technology:

Using a new technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE), Verizon was successfully able to complete data calls in Boston and Seattle, the first two cities where the company will deploy its service. Verizon is using the 700 MHz spectrum it bought an FCC auction to build the network. The company plans to start offering the service commercially in 2010, providing service for up to 100 million people in 30 markets. The company plans to have the entire nation covered with 4G service in 2013.

Verizon's competition comes from Clearwire's WiMax, which is expected to improve transmission speeds as a 4G wireless network. WiMax has launched in a number of cities, including Las Vegas, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Portland, Ore. Verizon's tests are limited, so far, to Boston and Seattle.

4G is supposed to be much faster than 3G, and could be as much as 15 to 100 times faster than current wireless networks. The technology hasn't been fully tested, and its potential is not really known. What is known, though, is that the U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to broadband speed and penetration.

Can Verizon and Clearwire help change that?