AT&T thinking about launching its LTE Advanced pipeline in the middle of next year

posted by Alan F. / Dec 05, 2012, 8:17 AM

AT&T thinking about launching its LTE Advanced pipeline in the middle of next year

"We haven't given a time frame but we would expect to be in a test mode in 2013. It's getting carrier aggregation from the infrastructure side and then getting it in our network so we can start certifying the devices."-Kris Rinne, AT&T Labs' executive vice president of network technologies

Since AT&T realizes that it will never catch up to Verizon in the LTE rollout race, the nation's second largest carrier has a great idea. By starting to deploy its LTE Advanced service in the second half of next year, the carrier could start the count from scratch when it rolls out this new service, which offers faster speeds for its customers, and a new tag line for AT&T commercials. Sure, AT&T can say now that it has 4G in more markets than Verizon, but only because it is allowed to count HSPA+ as 4G.

So how does LTE Advanced work? Glad you asked. It binds together "non-contiguous spectrum into a single, wider channel" which allows the carrier to be more efficient in handling data traffic. The plan is for AT&T to start rolling out this network even before it is finished with getting LTE to the front door of every Tom, Dick and Harry in the U.S. In the meantime, AT&T's LTE is in over 100 markets covering more than 150 million people. The mobile operator has already met its LTE target for the year which gives it the opportunity to stop and re-think its strategy. The carrier aims on reaching 250 million POPS with its LTE signal by the end of 2013 and 300 million by the end of 2014

AT&T had previously said that its LTE Advanced network would be in use next year, but has been stingy in providing details The service is considered an upgrade to the current LTE pipeline, bringing improvements in speed and capacity. According to Krisdh Prabhu, CEO and President of AT&T Labs, LTE Advanced provides users with speeds up to ten times faster than the current LTE service offers. More than a year ago, Sprint said that it would be offering LTE Advanced to its customers in the first half of 2013.

source: FierceWireless

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17 Comments

1. Alpione

Posts: 1; Member since: Oct 02, 2012

10 times faster than current LTE? Crazy!

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 8:39 AM 5

6. neutralguy

Posts: 1152; Member since: Apr 30, 2012

where did you get that? That would be like a gigabits per second. It would drain a phone's battery for just an hour or so.. :O

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 9:08 AM 0

7. speed4evr

Posts: 79; Member since: Oct 05, 2011

"According to Krisdh Prabhu, CEO and President of AT&T Labs, LTE Advanced provides users with speeds up to ten times faster than the current LTE service offers" last paragraph

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 10:10 AM 3

2. eDiesel

Posts: 142; Member since: Mar 17, 2012

I wonder if current lte phones will work on this advance lte. I hope my note 2 does.......

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 8:40 AM 5

3. moronman66

Posts: 162; Member since: Jan 09, 2012

Yay for A-LTE! That's what I've been waiting for, and now what they need to do is launch a 5" 1080p phone with an A-LTE radio for when it comes out and they are set!

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 8:42 AM 4

15. nnaatthhaannx2

Posts: 820; Member since: Oct 19, 2011

Lol don't forget the 5000 mah battery needed to power it.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 3:10 PM 2

4. mydi.maus unregistered

never can catch verizon,then u go advance,.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 8:52 AM 0

5. Droid_X_Doug

Posts: 5993; Member since: Dec 22, 2010

Sounds like spin from AT&T. Their problem was how fast they rolled out LTE-capable towers. If they follow the same roll-out urgency, VZW will beat them in the A-LTE race as well.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 9:07 AM 1

8. greyhulk

Posts: 184; Member since: Jun 30, 2010

People seem to forget that AT&T's HSPA+ speeds blows away Verizon's 3G and in some areas, it's even faster than Verizon's LTE. In Texas, I get an average of 10-12 Mbps on AT&T's HSPA+ and 40-50 mbps on LTE. I would personally rather fall back on AT&T's 3G than Verizon's 3G any day. CDMA is old, outdated technology that isn't even capable of simultaneous voice/data. Verizon NEEDS to have a bigger LTE footprint to compete.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 10:18 AM 5

9. Omarc07

Posts: 574; Member since: Nov 12, 2012

i agree with u people like mydi.maus and droid x doug seem to forget atts hspa blows verizons 3g out of the water .. sure verizon has more lte but everywere i been LA, san fransisco , puerto rico n other places were both att and verizon have lte its a tie in speed but in places were verizon dont have 4G like puerto rico and some parts of california and many more places that i been to atts 3G of fake 4G how some people like to call it has been better providing speeds of up to 11 mbps something u cannot get on verizons 3G evdo and also u can use voice and data which i ADMIT i neeever use haha so yeaa i think its good if att launches lte advanced nxt year then att would have the fastest network in the US with hspa+ , lte and lte advanced.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 11:43 AM 1

10. itzmando

Posts: 119; Member since: Oct 17, 2011

What areas in California have you not had LTE coverage. Thats a bit strange as I have been to Sacramento, San Fran, Oakland, L.A. Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Orange County. I have never suffered lack of LTE coverage so Im curious to know what cities you have had problems with? Just from using that speed.net app I avg 15-17 mbps which is on the low end but L.A. for sure get me low to mid 20s mbps. I am not even exaggerating the numbers. I will agree the very few times I actually dropped down to 3G was slow data which was in San Bernardino. But thats soon to change since LTE towers are extending that area, ATT gets poor service in that area so even with 3G its still actually slower than VZW. My cousins all have T-mobile so that area has better coverage than the leading two.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 11:58 AM 0

12. Omarc07

Visalia California my sister lives there, adelanto california, san Jose California some parts of Stockton I'm not saying Verizon doesnt have LTE in those places I mentioned it does but its very spotty were as att doesn't have Lte in all those places only in san Jose I think not sure but in those places its hspa network gets 10-12 mbps easily were as Verizon only gets 4-8 tops I seen it with my sisters droid razr maxx. and in places were att has LTE I get 20-30 mbps .

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 12:39 PM 0

11. bigdawg23

Posts: 467; Member since: May 25, 2011

I am with you. Many places I go my GNote and iPhone 5 out pace my work issued MIFI spot from VZW running LTE. Both companies need to address the lack of coverage from LaCrosse WI to Wisconsin Dells, WI. Along I90 the coverage is a joke by both companies. ATT does have solid edge while VZW has no data coverage at all. End of the day its persons use and coverage need that matters. Every person will have pros and cons to say about all the carriers. I have friends who swear by T-Mo, while for me the coverage is HORRIBLE.

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 12:33 PM 1

13. eshney

Posts: 13; Member since: Mar 03, 2012

So will current hardware be enough? or will it require us to buy new phones with different chips?

posted on Dec 05, 2012, 12:47 PM 0

14. gazmatic

Posts: 808; Member since: Sep 06, 2012

Just like there is ac that is faster than n there is cat4 and cat5 lte. I think snapdragon prime supports up to cat4. Not sure what chip supports cat5. I have an asus router that supports ac even though all of my devices are on n and g. I've always been an early adaptor. My laptop in 09 had draft-n