Verizon - Windows Phone not moving forward without LTE.

[Ryaxnb]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57335807-94/verizons-big-plans-for-4g-next-year/
From the article

For Verizon, the biggest problem with Windows Phone is the lack of support for LTE. Microsoft has said it would add LTE support, but hasn't been specified as to when. "We've communicated to Microsoft that LTE is critical to us," she said. "We need to see a timeline that makes sense if we want to continue to represent them."

Ouch. Microsoft really needs Verizon's support since the USA is their strongest market for Windows Phone at the moment and Nokia is not helping them much there. AT&T is doing a modest Windows Phone push but without both the big carriers on board, there's not much hope for Windows Phone in the USA long-term. Current plans are no LTE support for Windows Phone till mid-2012, i believe.


Note that although iPhone does not have LTE, consumer demand for iPhone is high. Windows Phone needs a differentiator against iPhone,
and needs to be on the same class as Android, to have a chance in Verizon's lineup, and to Verizon, that means LTE; Verizon realizes users don't hugely care about dual-core phones, since they don't know what it means, but "much faster web browsing, email, and song downloads and higher quality videos with less stuttering" comes across loud & clear to consumers and is easily marketable and communicable.

 

[Red Storm]

LTE is definitely important to me. Right now there's a Verizon LTE outage in parts of NE USA... and it really sucks. I miss my LTE.

I do think Microsoft needs to support LTE sooner rather than later.

 

[Insomniator]

Why does Verizon see it as so critical if so few areas have it? Unless you are in a big city... you don't have it. I'm an hour from Trenton and a little more from nyc I'm stuck on 3g. Trenton and NYC both have 4G (which is blazing btw but.. I'm on wifi 99% of the time even in those areas)

 

[Red Storm]

Why does Verizon see it as so critical if so few areas have it? Unless you are in a big city... you don't have it. I'm an hour from Trenton and a little more from nyc I'm stuck on 3g. Trenton and NYC both have 4G (which is blazing btw but.. I'm on wifi 99% of the time even in those areas)

Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Facts

200 million Americans covered with 4G LTE (as of Dec. 15)
190 Markets covered (as of Dec. 15)

That's a lot more than just a few people.

Thanks to LTE I was able to cancel my home internet and live off of mobile data alone (also thanks to my grandfathered unlimited data plan). 4G saves me a lot of money each month. It's been one of my main requirements for any new phone I get going forward.

 

[Dulanic]

Translation: Give us a reason to get people to agree to another 2 years or your gone.

 

[shortylickens]

Why does Verizon see it as so critical if so few areas have it? Unless you are in a big city... you don't have it. I'm an hour from Trenton and a little more from nyc I'm stuck on 3g. Trenton and NYC both have 4G (which is blazing btw but.. I'm on wifi 99% of the time even in those areas)

Its critical because so few cities have it. They need more phones to justify upgrading their network on a large scale.
Also, Verizon likes to dictate terms force manufacturers to their bidding. They need sales too. Getting people all hyped up about 4g and having them buy new phones and new service is good for business. I guess they dont think it will hurt them when the new customers find out they cant actually use 4g yet.

 

[AstroManLuca]

What I don't get is why is it so hard for MS to just add LTE support to their software? There's no reason not to. Then it's up to phone makers to add the radio to the phones, which can't be hard either since there are already tons of LTE phones out there.

 

[Ryaxnb]

Its critical because so few cities have it. They need more phones to justify upgrading their network on a large scale.
Also, Verizon likes to dictate terms force manufacturers to their bidding. They need sales too. Getting people all hyped up about 4g and having them buy new phones and new service is good for business. I guess they dont think it will hurt them when the new customers find out they cant actually use 4g yet.

65% of the US population is covered by Verizon 4G. And when people travel, they usually go to big cities. There are about 275 cities over 100,000 people and presumably around 175 of them have 4G. that's pretty good coverage for travelling, since most travellers wind up in big cities, particularly business travellers.

 

[shortylickens]

What I don't get is why is it so hard for MS to just add LTE support to their software? There's no reason not to. Then it's up to phone makers to add the radio to the phones, which can't be hard either since there are already tons of LTE phones out there.

MS has almost as strict a stranglehold on their OS as Apple does.
If you make a WP7 phone it has to conform to their standards. Should they add any 4g support they would also force manufacturers to have it. Maybe. Not sure.
Actually I think many manufacturers are waiting for MS to catch up before they give them any new hardware.

 

[Ryaxnb]

MS has almost as strict a stranglehold on their OS as Apple does.
If you make a WP7 phone it has to conform to their standards. Should they add any 4g support they would also force manufacturers to have it. Maybe. Not sure.
Actually I think many manufacturers are waiting for MS to catch up before they give them any new hardware.

Not quite like this, because WP does allow for some hardware variation. In the next version they plan to allow for more, so one item of variation that is rumored is whether or not to use an LTE enabled chipset. Of course, the chipsets allowed are more liimted than Android.

 

[hanoverphist]

sounds like a red herring to me. they have showed their lack of interest in wp7 so far, lots of people on the vzw forums have asked for any other choices of wp7 phones and have gone unanswered by vzw so far. i would buy a new phone if they would offer one with a larger screen. every time i talked to vzw sales reps or tech support and they ask me if they can do anything else for me, i ask them if they can add new wp7 phones to their line up. this cop out for LTE support sounds like a time buyer so they dont have to deal with them right now. they dont advertise, recommend in store or really admit they even sell wp7 phones unless asked directly. sad, really.

 

[smartpatrol]

WP7 is getting LTE support with the Tango update, which supposedly will arrive early 2012.

Sucks for Verizon's WP7 fans but I can't really blame them. LTE is Verizon's killer feature. IMO it's a failure on Microsoft's part that they haven't kept up with the latest smartphone tech. They're a year late with LTE, and will likely be at least a year late with 720p and dual core support (both of which will be part of Apollo in late 2012).

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Bateluer]

Its critical because so few cities have it. They need more phones to justify upgrading their network on a large scale.
Also, Verizon likes to dictate terms force manufacturers to their bidding. They need sales too. Getting people all hyped up about 4g and having them buy new phones and new service is good for business. I guess they dont think it will hurt them when the new customers find out they cant actually use 4g yet.

Verizon's LTE ramp and build out has been going at a staggering pace. Even with their occasional outtages. They've done in less than a year what Sprint wasn't able to do for two years. AT&T's only just starting their LTE build, with only ~15 cities covered and two phones. Verizon has 190 cities covered, with a robust line up of pones to actually use it.

From a technical standpoint though, Qualcomm does offer chipsets that support LTE, to my knowledge. Both the Thunderbolt and the Revolution use Snapdragons. And WP7 is only Snapdragon. Perhaps MS is simply waiting for the next generation of LTE modems to reduce power draw on their devices?

If thats the case, then I would think they would be able to very clearly communicate that to Verizon.

 

[notposting]

Seen some different ideas on it, been leaked that Nokia is working with AT&T on LTE for their WP's, long known that Tango will be adding LTE support, seems most like blowing smoke to excuse themselves for not supporting the ONE they got late or adding anymore.

LTE isn't even on my must have list....I want a very good-to-great main camera, a ffc...yeah. That's it. 4-inch screen would be perfect, but if they redid the Trophy with the cameras upgraded I would buy it. Lock down the back cover and up battery capacity if needed. LTE would be a perk.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Why does Verizon see it as so critical if so few areas have it? Unless you are in a big city... you don't have it. I'm an hour from Trenton and a little more from nyc I'm stuck on 3g. Trenton and NYC both have 4G (which is blazing btw but.. I'm on wifi 99% of the time even in those areas)

I live in a podunk city (Montgomery AL) and I got 4g a couple of months after it started.

 

[hans007]

You need the msn6600 to be added so its added cost. No reason why they couldn't do it though