Verizon Wireless is promising that it will match its 3G footprint with faster Long-Term Evolution (LTE) in 2013, which it says is on track to cover about 100 million people when the proto-4G technology is launched later this year.

Talking on a developer's Webcast Tuesday morning, Tony Lewis, Verizon's VP of Open Development, gave a quick update on the readiness of the network. "Everything is on track for commercial launch," Lewis said. (See LTE Watch: Verizon Goes Live in Q4.)

Lewis says it will launch with 25 to 30 markets, which will cover about 100 million people, by the end of this year. This number will rise to 200 million in 2012.
He added that the company will likely add LTE coverage in some places that don't have 3G today in 2013. The company will continue doing that in 2014, which is when the carrier is expected to complete the nationwide deployment. (See Verizon to Complete LTE Network by 2014?.)

Verizon has promised average download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbit/s on the LTE network, initially with data cards for laptops but with smartphones arriving in the first half of 2011. By way of comparison, Verizon's 3G service currently offers maximum downloads of 3.1 Mbit/s, which average down around to 1 Mbit/s. (See LTE Watch: Verizon Shows Off in Boston.) The company says that technical trials on the network have now been completed. "Later this summer -- or early in the fall -- we'll start friendly trials in five cities in US, which will include Boston and Seattle," Verizon spokesman Jeff Nelson said. (See CTIA 2010: Verizon LTE Gets Friendly.)

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile