VERIZON WIRELESS USERS REPORTING DATA OUTAGES

If you're having trouble getting a data connection on your Verizon-branded handset this morning, you're not alone. Based on Verizon's @vzwsupport Twitter feed and forums, it looks as if both 3G and 4G networks have been affected, although the 3G service appears to be working now. This is the third data outage for Verizon in a month, mostly affecting their 4G LTE deployment.

VERIZON 4G NETWORK DOWN IN SOME AREAS

If your Droid or other Verizon 4G LTE-yoked cell, dongle or MiFi isn't pulling down any high speed data then don't worry, at least you're in good company. Judging by reports cropping up all over the internet, the current Verizon outage on its fastest data connection is quite widespread. The company's official statement indicates engineers are currently trying to resolve the issue which cropped up in the last 24 hours, and reminds users the company's voice services and 3G network are still working fine, if you can call downloads maxing out at just a couple of megabits per second working.

A similar outage popped up back in April, and while there's no word on what exactly is behind the issue, we hope this one is resolved even more quickly. Until then, keep an eye on the @VZWSupport Twitter account for updates while we try to keep from letting this collapse of modern technology drag us all the way back into the dark ages of 1xRTT.

VERIZON DOUBLING 4G ALLOTMENT.....FOR A LIMITED TIME

Verizon Wireless will soon offer a promotion that provides its 4G LTE customers with twice the amount of data for the same monthly price. The special will kick off on November 11th at 11:11 a.m. EST to coincide with the Motorola DROID RAZR launch. The promotion works just how it sounds: if you currently pay for 2GB of data per month, you’ll receive 4GB for the same price. If you subscribe to a 5GB monthly plan, you’ll receive 10GB for the same price. Reportedly, existing customers will be able to add the option to their account by contacting customer service or by logging into their My Verizon account on Verizon’s website. Verizon did not say how long the promotion will last.

AT&T 4G LTE COMING TO NEW YORK SOON

Speaking during the Mashable Media Summit on Friday, AT&T’s senior vice president of communications Larry Solomon confirmed that AT&T will activate its 4G LTE network in New York City “very soon.” AT&T’s 4G LTE network is currently live in Atlanta, Chicacgo, Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and the carrier plans to activate the network in Athens, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. on Sunday, November 6th.

VERIZON LAUNCHES LTE 4G IN 22 MORE MARKETS

Verizon Wireless continues its march towards LTE dominance with the announcement it has lit up 22 more markets. The markets include Birmingham, Alabama; Modesto and Stockton, California; Fort Myers, Florida; South Bend, Mishawaka, Granger, Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana; Sioux City, Iowa; Hagerstown, Maryland; Tupelo, Mississippi; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico; Buffalo, New York; Asheville, North Carolina; Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Jackson and Martin, Tennessee; Greater Hampton Roads and Richmond, Virginia and Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In addition Verizon is expanding its LTE footprint in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Erie, PA. On November 17th, Verizon Wireless will deploy 4G LTE in Little Rock, Arkansas; Savannah, Georgia; Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa; Lexington, Kentucky; Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; Orange County, New York; Greater Providence; Rapid City, South Dakota; Roanoke, Virginia; and Appleton, Wisconsin. It will also expand the exiting footprints in in Louisville, Kentucky; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Nashville, Tennessee

MOTOROLA SLOW IN RETURNING LTE UPGRADED XOOMS

Consider yourself lucky if you sent off your Motorola Xoom for the 4G LTE upgrade and got it back in about a week, as promised. It seems that Motorola Mobility is now having some trouble holding up their end of the bargain on the quick turnaround. In a note to eager, empty-handed slate faithful, the company informed those waiting that it's experiencing delays and will let customers know when their device finally ships. No comments from Motorola on the cause for the delay or how much long it will take.

SPRINT PLANS TO SPEND $10 BILLION OVER NEXT TWO YEARS TO UPGRADE TO LTE

Wonder just how much it costs to phase out iDEN and WiMAX networks and put all your eggs in one, CDMA / LTE-flavored basket? Well, Joe Euteneuer, Sprint's CFO, just offered up a frank answer here at its "Strategy Update" event: $10 billion over the next two years. That's a heckuva lot more than the $4 billion to $5 billion Wall Street was expecting, but Euteneuer assured all the suited-up financial analysts in the room that the company should save $10 billion to $11 billion through 2017 (a figure widely reported before today), with $4 billion of that resulting from not having to maintain the iDEN network anymore.

Sprint plans to have 125 million subscribers covered in LTE by the end of 2012 with the rest done by the end of 2013. The first LTE phones and tablets will begin rolling out on the network sometime around June 2012.

VERIZON BEGINS FREE 4G LTE UPGRADE FOR MOTORLA XOOM

Motorola XOOM owners who want to take advantage of the promised 4G LTE upgrade can finally begin to do so beginning Thursday. Once a customer signs up to receive the upgrade, Verizon Wireless will send the shipping instructions along with a box. The option is free and Verizon Wireless said changes to data plans are not required. Verizon also advises that XOOM owners back up their devices before sending them in for the upgrade. The process is expected to take six business days. Verizon Wireless also announced on Wednesday that it will begin to sell the Motorola XOOM with 4G LTE pre-installed for $499.99 starting October 13th.

LEAK: MORE MOTOROLA XOOM 2 PICS

More pictures of the Motorola Xoom 2 tablets have leaked. The tablets are only about 9mm thick, about the same thickness as an iPhone 4. It will come in two sizes, 8.2" and 10.1". In the pictures we can see the rear buttons that appear to be on/off and volume. The leaker has indicated both tablets, codenamed Fleming, will sport a 5 MP HD rear facing camera and LTE. The OS is currently Android 3.2, but said to be very buggy requiring frequent reboots. Click the link here to see the new leaked pictures.

RUMOR: SPRINT IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE CLEARWIRE

Bloomberg is reporting Clearwire is currently in talks to sell its business to Sprint, and perhaps secure the funding it so desperately needs for a network build out. According to several insider sources, the third place wireless carrier's considering a joint investment (amongst other options) with Comcast, Cablevision and Cox, that would give the cablers a bundled high-speed, wireless broadband competitive advantage, and Sprint an LTE boost in its battle against AT&T and Verizon's rival 4G networks.

None of the players in this rumored takeover have yet to comment on the purported transaction, although the business gossip has had quite an uplifting effect on Clearwire's shares.

VERIZON WIRELESS 4G LTE NOW AVAILABLE TO HALF OF US POPULATION; AT&T NOT SO MUCH

Verizon Wireless on Thursday announced that its lightning fast 4G LTE network now covers more than half of the U.S. population. We have repeatedly called Verizon’s LTE network the fastest cellular network we’ve ever used, and the fact that the carrier has been able to roll it out so quickly with only a few hiccups is nothing short of impressive. ”In eight short months we’ve introduced our 4G LTE network to more than half of the U.S. population, while continuing to offer the nation’s most reliable 3G network coast to coast,” said David Small, chief technical officer of Verizon Wireless, in a statement. “This matters to millions of Americans because they can take advantage of faster 4G LTE speeds both at home and when they travel throughout the country – today and in many more markets to come this year. Each new market and expansion is significant as it brings us closer to delivering on the promise to bring our 4G LTE network to more than 185 million Americans by the end of 2011.”

AT&T on the other hand has just started deploying its LTE in a limited number of markets.

LEAKED: AT&T LETTER DAMAGES AT&T CASE FOR T-MOBILE ACQUISITION

Yesterday a partially-redacted document briefly appeared on the FCC website --accidentally posted by a law firm working for AT&T on the $39 billion T-Mobile deal (somewhere there's a paralegal looking for work today). While AT&T engaged in damage control telling reporters that the document contained no new information a careful review of the doc shows that's simply not true. Data in the letter undermines AT&T's primary justification for the massive deal, while highlighting how AT&T is willing to pay a huge premium simply to reduce competition and keep T-Mobile out of Sprint's hands.

While AT&T is busy telling regulators the deal will increase network investment by $8 billion, out of the other side of their mouth AT&T has been telling investors the deal will reduce investment by $10 billion over 6 years. Based on historical averages T-Mobile would have invested $18 billion during that time frame, which means an overall reduction in investment.

For the first time the letter pegs the cost of bringing AT&T's LTE coverage from 80% to 97% at $3.8 billion -- quite a cost difference from the $39 billion price tag on the T-Mobile deal. The push for 97% coverage apparently came from AT&T marketing, who was well aware that leaving LTE investment at 80% would leave them at a competitive disadvantage to Verizon. Marketing likely didn't want a repeat of the Luke Wilson map fiasco of a few years back, when Verizon made AT&T look foolish for poor 3G coverage.

The letter also notes that AT&T's supposed decision to "not" build out LTE to 97% was cemented during the first week of January, yet public documents (pdf) indicate that at the same time AT&T was already considering buying T-Mobile, having proposed the deal to Deutsche Telekom on January 15. In the letter, AT&T tries to make it seem like the decision to hold off on that 17% LTE expansion was based on costs. Yet the fact the company was willing to shell out $39 billion one week later, combined with AT&T's track record with these kinds of tactics, suggests AT&T executives knew that 80-97% expansion promise would be a useful carrot on a stick for politicians.

The reality appears to be that AT&T is giving Deutsche Telekom $39 billion primarily to reduce market competition. That price tag eliminates T-Mobile entirely -- and makes Sprint (and by proxy new LTE partner LightSquared and current partner Clearwire) more susceptible to failure in the face of 80% AT&T/Verizon market domination.

Regardless of the motivation behind rejecting 97% LTE deployment, the letter proves AT&T's claim they need T-Mobile to improve LTE coverage from 80-97% simply isn't true. That's a huge problem for AT&T, since nearly every politician and non-profit that has voiced support for the merger did so based largely on this buildout promise. It's also a problem when it comes to the DOJ review, since proof that AT&T could complete their LTE build for far less than the cost of this deal means the deal doesn't meet the DOJ's standard for merger-specific benefits. [Broadband Reports]

CLEARWIRE ANNOUNCES PLANS TO ADOPT 4G LTE

Clearwire on Wednesday announced its intent to adopt LTE across its network. The 4G wholesaler says it may add LTE Advanced-ready technology to its network that will provide up to 120Mbps download speeds according to network technology trials. ”Clearwire plans to raise the bar again for mobile broadband service in the United States,” said John Stanton, Clearwire’s Chairman and interim CEO, in a statement. “Our leadership in launching 4G services forced a major change in the competitive mobile data landscape. Now, we plan to bring our considerable spectrum portfolio to bear to deliver an LTE network capable of meeting the future demands of the market.”

Clearwire confirmed that it does not intend to discontinue support for its 4G WiMAX network in the near term, and it will continue to build out its WiMAX network. The company did not put a timeline on the plans, however, saying that its entire LTE deployment strategy is “subject to additional funding.”

LEAK: XOOM 4G UPGRADE COMING IN SEPTEMBER

To say we've been patiently waiting for the Xoom's promised 4G upgrade would certainly be an understatement. It looks like those of you counting on blistering speeds this summer are flat out of luck, as the LTE overhaul apparently won't begin until fall. Droid-Life's got a snap of a seemingly official Verizon memo, which alleges that the FCC-espied gratis upgrade will apparently land sometime in September. Also mentioned are links to Big Red's website on how to backup and package one's slate for its eventual voyage back to Moto's mothership. Hop on over to the source to see the full communiqué, and peep the more coverage links if you enjoy being prepared entirely too far in advance.

DOWNSIDE TO 4G...NO ROAMING

Several companies are hopping on the LTE bandwagon, but it's turning out to be more isolating an experience than we hoped. According to PCMag, a Verizon spokesperson confirmed that its fourth-generation broadband network won't be compatible with other carriers in the US. As it turns out, Big Red and AT&T each own a separate block of 700MHz spectrum with only a fraction of overlap, leaving little room for phones on both networks to mingle with one another. There's not much hope for roaming on MetroPCS or LightSquared, either, as their waves of LTE run at 1700MHz and 1500MHz, respectively. This smattering of frequencies means it'll be near impossible to get roam on other companies' 4G networks nationally.

What's worse, the ITU has approved twelve bands for LTE use around the world, so don't count on a wide selection of global devices -- and you thought sorting through international 3G was bad, didn't you? We're still a long way from learning our LTE roaming fate, but it appears the largest carrier in the US won't make the journey any easier on us.

RUMOR: SPRINT LIGHTSQUARED SIGN 15-YEAR LTE AGREEMENT

Apparently Sprint's none too concerned about recent complaints from the likes of John Deere and the federal government about LightSquared's potential interference with GPS signals. A letter obtained by Bloomberg reveals that Sprint has signed a 15-year deal with Falcone and co., agreeing to share network expansion costs in return for a slice of the sweet LTE service. According to the document, "LightSquared and Sprint will jointly develop, deploy and operate LightSquared's 4G LTE network." The report comes on the heels of rumors of a $20 billion agreement between the two companies. Unfortunately for both parties, no amount of billion dollar bills will shake impending scrutiny from the FCC.

AT&T'S LTE NETWORK 2 - 3 YEARS BEHIND VERIZON'S SAYS CEO

Speaking during a D9 press event in California on Thursday, AT&T Mobility’s CEO Ralph de la Vega said it will take AT&T between 2 and 3 years to bring its LTE network coverage up to a par with Verizon Wireless’ 4G offering. AT&T has already announced that it plans to deploy its 4G LTE network to five cities this summer, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

However, Verizon’s network is already available in 55 markets, it plans to deploy in 23 more this month, and the carrier has promised full 4G LTE coverage across its current 3G network by the end of 2013.

According to CNN, Ralph de la Vega said AT&T “can’t say when” its 4G network will match Verizon’s but said “in the next two to three years they will probably be indistinguishable.” The carrier also reaffirmed that if its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile is approved, customers should see a large improvement the in overall quality and reliability of AT&T’s service.

RUMOR: iPAD3 WITH 4G LTE LAUNCHING BEFORE HOLIDAYS

Apple will release a new 4G LTE-enabled iPad tablet later this year according to Hong Kong-based research firm CLSA. The firm cites channel checks in stating that Apple’s iPad 3 will launch ahead of the holidays this year. CLSA also alludes to a Retina Display being on board alongside the new 4G LTE radio.

“While most vendors appear fixated on matching the specs and features of iPad2, our checks suggest Apple will release iPad3 in time for the holiday season, sporting a better display and LTE capabilities,” the firm’s report says. CLSA added that it does not expect Apple to launch a 4G LTE-enabled iPhone this year.

LIGHTSQUARED SPRINT READY TO SIGN $20 BILLION DEAL

According to Bloomberg, LightSquared, the USD7 billion Long Term Evolution (LTE) open-access mobile network that will utilise satellite spectrum acquired by New York investment firm Harbinger Capital, is close to striking a USD20 billion deal with Sprint Nextel to share network construction costs.

The report, which cites two people familiar with the talks, indicates that the two operators are hoping to finalise terms on a 15 year contract which will allow LightSquared to roll out its network faster than expected. According to Bloomberg’s sources, who declined to be named, if the deal goes through, Sprint would initially receive as much as USD2 billion annually from LightSquared, to help pay for network equipment and construction costs. Subsequent payments would vary annually, based on the number of users on the LightSquared network and usage patterns. However, conflicting reports from Reuters indicate that the agreement with Sprint is more likely to cover an eight-year time-frame, rather than the 15 year period stated elsewhere.

The news comes just days after LightSquared reportedly held talks with AT&T regarding a deal to buy additional network capacity from the mobile carrier. Two people with knowledge of the discussions stressed that the initiative was still at a preliminary stage and may not result in a deal.

VERIZON LIGHTS UP LTE IN 21 MORE MARKETS ON JUNE 16TH

Verizon today announced the addition of 21 new markets to its LTE coverage, starting June 16th. The list includes some biggish spots, like Boise, ID, Milwaukee / Madison, WI, Salt Lake City, UT, and Hartford, CT -- Northern California will be getting a major coverage boost, as well, with the existing Bay Area coverage being expanded to Marin and Solano counties. The network launched with 38 markets back in December and those, plus these new additions and a handful announced earlier this month, are bringing the company ever closer to its proposed 175 markets by the end of the year. That's a whole lot of green stars.