Verizon Plans Massive 4G LTE Expansion for May 17th

Verizon has planned a massive 4G LTE expansion for May 17th wherein the carrier will be launching its high-speed network in 28 new markets across the United States while expanding it in 11 others.

The carrier has a tendency to stagger its 4G LTE roll out announcements but today, it took a different approach and combined all of them into one huge release.

Needless to say, the list is mind-boggling.

Verizon has shown no signs of slowing down its 4G LTE roll out since it launched its high-speed data network in the latter part of 2011. It far and away has the biggest 4G LTE network in the United States, easily trumping AT&T’s, Sprint’s – which hasn’t gone live yet, as well as the networks of smaller carriers like MetroPCS.

And May 17th’s roll out will separate it even further from the pack.

That’s because Verizon will roll out its 4G LTE network to a grand total of 28 new places in the United States, a list that includes:

• Houma/Thibodaux and Lake Charles, La.
• Hyannis/Mid-Cape, Mass.
• Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Mich.
• Biloxi/Gulfport/Pascagoula and Oxford, Miss.
• Atlantic City/Toms River, N.J.
• Dickinson and Williston, N.D.
• Ashtabula, Bucyrus and Defiance, Ohio
• Eugene/Springfield, Ore.
• Lancaster, New Castle, Northern Cambria County, Oil City/Franklin, Somerset and York, Pa.
• Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Mitchell, S.D.
• Paris, Texas.
• Burlington/Northern, Vt.
• Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Martinsville and Staunton/Waynesboro, Va.
• Sheridan, Wyo.

That’s almost as many markets as AT&T’s 4G LTE network has nationwide. Not content with just that, Verizon will also be expanding its network in 11 other places.

Those include:

• Denver, Colo.
• Dover, Del.
• Fort Myers and Lakeland, Fla.
• Hagerstown, Md.
• Canton, Lima, Mansfield, Toledo and Youngstown/Warren, Ohio
• Erie, Pa.

So, folks living in those 39 cities will now have a better reason to pick up one of Verizon’s many 4G LTE devices, a list that includes the recently discounted Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX, the Motorola Droid 4, the upcoming Droid Incredible 4G LTE and quite possibly, the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Verizon’s 4G LTE network offers up speeds that can reach up to 10 times faster than those found on the carrier’s 3G network. An example of those speeds can be seen in the video below.

As it stands, AT&T only offers its 4G LTE network in a handful of cities despite offering a robust lineup of devices while Sprint’s 4G LTE network has yet to go live, even though the carrier has launched several 4G LTE powered devices.

AT&T and Verizon plan to complete their 4G LTE roll outs by the end of 2013 while Sprint plans to get its full network in place by the end of 2014.