Verizon has been rolling out and improving its 4G LTE network ever since the coverage first launched in late 2010. Most recently, the big red carrier augmented its 4G network with AWS spectrum to create XLTE, which offers faster peak data speeds. Now Verizon is taking another step to beef up its 4G service.
It’s been discovered that Verizon is now using some of the airwaves that used to be home to 3G CDMA coverage for 4G LTE service in Manhattan. The network is very slow right now, suggesting that it’s still in the early stages of testing. Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis confirmed that Verizon is using its previously-3G PCS spectrum to test LTE, but wouldn’t offer up any additional details.
As more and more consumers make the move to 4G LTE devices, it makes sense for Verizon to begin to phase out its 3G coverage. There are still quite a few folks that are using 3G-only devices, though, so we likely won’t see Verizon 3G fully disappear for quite some time. That said, as the adoption of LTE hardware and Voice over LTE capabilities continue to grow, we’ll likely see Verizon take an increasing amount of its 3G service down and repurpose it for 4G coverage.
