Engadget report that Verizon have finished with a roll-out of mobile speed boosts across some parts of the USA. Verizon has upgraded many of its key 4G LTE areas to AWS Band 4 frequencies allowing the LTE network to not only offer faster speeds but also improved reliability and increased subscription to LTE networks.
GigaOM reader Milan Milanovic managed to get a staggering 80.82 Mbps download and 15.35 Mbps upload with a 35ms ping while out and about in Midtown Manhattan. According to other network testers Verizon have also activated these same AWS Band 4 frequencies in Chicago and Los Angeles so people there should also be able to access those speeds with a compatible handset.
Of course that is the catch – only handsets with the appropriate radios compatible with AWS can surf that AWS band and access those high speeds. Verizon says an update for its customers using compatible phones (such as the Samsung Galaxy S4) will be delivered in the near future. It is also worth noting that as the number of users on the network increases the speed will drop substantially but it should still be blazing fast by mobile standards.
Image courtesy of Milan Milanovic
If my Android could run at those speeds it would go up in smoke.