Last month Verizon expanded its 4G LTE network to its 400th market, easily meeting the carrier's goal of reaching 400 markets by the end of 2012. Now the big red operator has revealed that it'll reach another LTE milestone earlier than anticipated. As noted by Fierce Wireless, Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo revealed today at a technology conference that his carrier's deployment of its 4G LTE network will be finished by mid-2013, which is six months earlier than Verizon had expected its LTE network to match its 3G coverage. At the end of the third quarter, Verizon said that there were 14.9 million postpaid LTE devices in use on its network, adding that 35 percent of its data traffic was over LTE.
Shammo also touched a bit on some other aspects of Verizon's business. The exec reiterated that Verizon's Share Everything plans are doing better than anticipated, with over 13 percent of the customer base on one of the shared offerings. He added that the average number of devices on Share Everything plans is above 2.6 products per account. Not everyone is hopping onto the new plans, though, as Shammo did say that some customers are paying the full cost of new hardware to keep their unlimited plans.
When it comes to carriers coming together in big deals like the one between Sprint and SoftBank, Shammo said that Verizon is unlikely to pursue such an agreement with a smaller carrier since it probably wouldn't be given regulatory approval. However, Shammo explained that he's in favor of the aforementioned Sprint-SoftBank deal because it will help to strengthen Sprint, which will in turn help the industry as a whole.
Finally, Shammo touched a bit on smartphone platforms. He again noted the need for a significant third competitor in the smartphone race to go up against iOS and Android, saying that he "would love to see the Windows [Phone] 8 platform be a successful platform." Verizon hasn't exactly been a big Windows Phone supporter in the past, having released just one device since the platform's debut. However, Big Red will be changing that soon with the Nokia Lumia 822 and HTC Windows Phone 8X, both of which are slated to hit Verizon's shelves this month. Whether or not that'll help turn Windows Phone into the strong competitor that Shammo wants remains to be seen, but it's definitely good to finally be getting some fresh Windows Phone handsets on Verizon. More details of Shammo's talk can be found at the link below.
Via Fierce Wireless
