Verizon switches on LTE Advanced in 461 cities -- is your phone compatible?

 

Verizon Wireless is what I consider to be the best cellphone carrier in the USA. Yes, it is expensive comparatively, but you get what you pay for. Both coverage and speed is top notch across the country, meaning you should have a solid experience in many places where you travel.
 
Today, the carrier announces that its LTE is getting much faster. In 461 cities across the USA, it switches on the speedier "LTE Advanced" (LTE-A). Best of all, many existing devices are compatible. Wondering if your phone, tablet, or hotspot can take advantage? Read on for the list.
 
"Verizon LTE Advanced uses software that combines multiple channels to speed mobile data over the network more quickly than ever before. The result is 50 percent faster peak speeds in cities nationwide for Verizon customers using one of the 39 LTE Advanced-capable phones and tablets already on Verizon's network -- including top-selling Samsung Galaxy S6 and S7 smartphones, Moto Droids and Apple iPhones. As new devices from Apple, Samsung, LG and other manufacturers are introduced, they will be LTE Advanced-capable right out of the box", says Verizon.
 
The wireless carrier further says, "LTE Advanced currently uses a combination of two- and three-carrier aggregation. Customers will continue to enjoy typical download speeds of 5 - 12 Mbps, but two-channel carrier aggregation has shown peak download speeds of up to 225 Mbps, far exceeding the current speeds being experienced by wireless data networks nationwide. While the speeds of two channel carrier aggregation provide a leap forward, three-channel carrier aggregation provides even greater efficiency. Verizon engineers deploying three-channel carrier aggregation have experienced speeds greater than 300 Mbps".
 
Wondering if your phone, hotspot, or tablet is compatible? Please see the list below.

• Apple iPhone 6
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
• Apple iPhone 6s
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
• Apple iPhone 5 SE
• Apple iPad Pro
• Apple iPad Pro 9.7
• Apple iPad Air 2
• Apple iPad Mini 4
• Asus Zenpad Z8
• Blackberry PRIV
• HTC 10
• HTC Desire 626
• HTC One M9
• LG V10
• LG G4
• LG G5
• Motorola Nexus 6
• Moto X
• Moto Z Force Droid
• Moto Z Droid
• Motorola Droid Turbo 2
• Motorola Droid Turbo
• Netgear MHS AC791L
• Novatel MiFi i6620L
• Novatel MiFi USB620L
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus
• Samsung Note 5
• Samsung Galaxy S6
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
• Samsung Galaxy S7
• Samsung Galaxy View
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
• Samsung Galaxy Tab E 8.0
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7
• Sony Xperia Z3v
• Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

 
I reached out to Verizon to find out how a customer can tell when they are on LTE-A. Unfortunately, it will not be displayed on your device. In other words, whether you are on regular LTE or LTE-A, the device will just display "LTE". The only way to tell if you are getting the faster speed is to run a speed test using an app or website. This is a bit disappointing, but since it carries no additional cost, I am OK with it. Hopefully it can be more apparent in the future.
 
Are you excited for this Verizon LTE roll-out? Check out the infographic below and tell me your thoughts in the comments.
 

 

Photo Credit: siiixth/Shutterstock
 
~ Brian Fagioli

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Can you hear me now? 36,000 Verizon workers go on strike

 

Is your phone working? The reason I ask is this morning at 6am EDT 36,000 Verizon workers walked off the job in protest of outsourcing of work to countries such the Philippines, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The carrier is closing call centers in favor of overseas help. The union also makes accusations of sending workers out of state for extended periods of time.
 
"Verizon's corporate greed isn't just harming workers' families, it's hurting customers as well," the CWA (Communications Workers of America) says in a statement to CNN.
 
If you are using Verizon Wireless your mobile will probably be working fine, but if you have one of those old-fashioned landlines then you may experience problems. Likewise with the Fios internet service, though the company promises it's prepared and interruptions should not occur.
 
Like all situations, there are two sides to this story. While Verizon profits are up, that is the result of the wireless side of the business -- one not served by the CWA. Landlines are in decline and that side of the business is slipping as more and more people find them unnecessary.
 
While a Verizon spokesman told the New York Times there would be no problems, the union contends that landline service will be degredated and customer service will be less readily available.
 
Despite the possible problems there is no need to worry about your bill -- it will be unaffected even if your service is having problems.
 
Image Credit: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock

~ Alan Buckingham

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Deutsche Telekom, MetroPCS to merge U.S. mobile businesses

(Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS said they will merge their U.S. mobile operations to create a larger fourth-place player better able to compete with rivals.

The boards of both companies voted on Wednesday to approve the deal, which will see Deutsche Telekom hold 74 percent and MetroPCS 26 percent in the combined entity.

The merger marks a long-awaited consolidation in the U.S. mobile market, in which the fourth-largest mobile carrier Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile aims to get the scale it needs to compete with AT&T and Verizon.

Last year, U.S. regulators scuppered a planned $39 billion tie-up between AT&T and T-Mobile on the grounds it would have led to higher consumer prices and hurt competition.

The MetroPCS deal is effectively a reverse merger, in which smaller MetroPCS, which is listed in the U.S, will buy T-Mobile U.S.

The companies said the deal would be "structured as a recapitalization" in which MetroPCS will declare a 1 for 2 reverse stock split and make a cash payment of $1.5 billion to its shareholders.

Afterwards, the new company will remain listed in New York, which analysts said would allow Deutsche Telekom to benefit from higher stock market valuations in the U.S. via what is effectively a spin-off of T-Mobile USA.

It will also help Deutsche Telekom lessen the burden of investing in the U.S. by making the local unit more independent, and give the former German monopoly a liquid asset it can sell down if it wants to exit the U.S. eventually.

U.S. regulators must still approve the deal, and the companies said closing was expected in the first half of 2013.

The combined company, which will be called T-Mobile and led by current boss John Legere, will have 42.5 million subscribers and pro forma revenues in 2012 of $24.8 billion.

In contrast, third-largest operator Sprint had 56 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter, Verizon had 94 million while AT&T had 105 million.

Braxton Carter, the current chief financial officer of MetroPCS, will become the CFO of the new company.

Once Deutsche Telekom's strongest growth engine, T-Mobile USA has been losing customers to bigger and smaller carriers in recent years. It has lagged behind in upgrading to high-speed wireless services known as 4G and has been unable to get a deal with Apple Inc. to sell its wildly popular iPhone available at its three bigger competitors.

The next challenge the new company will face is marrying its two networks, which rely on different mobile standards, and will need to be migrated to faster 4G technology in the coming years. Such rationalization should lead to cost savings, but in the short-term can cost more and hit margins as Sprint saw when it struggled to integrate Nextel.

"This is not a replay of a debacle that people have seen in the past. We will not smash together two networks with differing technology," said Legere on a call with analysts.

Legere also said T-Mobile expected minimal customer losses during the network rationalization, which is slated to be completed by the end of 2015.

Deutsche Telekom said cost synergies from the combined company would have a net present value of $6-7 billion, and after 2017 synergies would be worth $1.2-1.5 billion annually.

It added that it was targeting an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin of 34-36 percent for the new company by 2017, compared with T-Mobile USA's adjusted EBITDA margin of 27.7 percent in the second quarter of this year.

MetroPCS shares, which rose 17 percent on Tuesday after it emerged that talks were underway with Deutsche Telekom, were down almost 6 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

Deutsche Telekom shares were up 0.7 percent at 1438 GMT, outperforming a flat German blue chip index in thin trading due to a bank holiday.

Sprint's shares were down 1.4 percent, while those of Leap Wireless, another smaller wireless carrier also mooted as a takeover target, fell nearly 15 percent.

Morgan Stanley and Lazard were financial advisors to Deutsche Telekom. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, K&L Gates, and Wiley Rein LLP were legal counsel.

J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse advised MetroPCS, while Evercore Partners advised the special committee of the board of directors of MetroPCS.

~ Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt and Liana Baker in New York; Writing by Leila Abboud; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Jane Merriman and Mike Nesbit 
              
   

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