U.S. Cellular has already revealed that the first devices capable of running on its upcoming LTE network are due to arrive sometime in Q1 2012, but the carrier has yet to announce which devices it's planning to release or even what type of LTE products (phone, tablet, USB modem, etc.) that it's got in the pipeline. However, an FCC filing has seemingly revealed U.S. Cellular's plans. The filing, submitted by U.S. Cellular, mentions that USCC's first LTE-capable devices will be a smartphone and a tablet and that they'll both be launching in the first quarter of next year. There's no mention of precisely which devices they'll be, but U.S. Cellular says in the filing that it's working with a single manufacturer on both products. It also states that the LTE handset will have multiple radios and multi-band chipsets.
Last month, the rumor mill produced a leaked image showing that U.S. Cellular may be planning to launch LTE-enabled models of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus. We've yet to hear anything since then on the matter, but the fact that U.S. Cellular's smartphone and tablet will come from the same manufacturer seems to support the claim. As far as U.S. Cellular's LTE coverage goes, the carrier announced in November that the network was ready (though there are obviously no devices to support it yet) and that the initial LTE roll out will take place in select cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma. As usual, you can bet that we'll give you the lowdown on U.S. Cellular's LTE network and devices as we learn more. Get excited, U.S. Cellular folk!
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