U.S. Cellular To Launch LTE Later This Year

More 4G? We'll take it! And we're talking about real 4G, not this HSPA+ stuff that T-Mobile USA and AT&T seem to be tooting their horns about. U.S. Cellular, one of the larger regional carriers in America, has recently announced that they'll soon be delivering high-speed LTE services and LTE devices to more than 25 percent of its customers across two dozen markets in time for the holiday season. The carrier's partnering with King Street Wireless in order to make it all come together, and with this, it's yet another check in LTE's favor and another blow to WiMAX.

The initial LTE rollout for USCC is in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma. These include some of U.S. Cellular's leading markets such as Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wis.; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa; Portland and Bangor, Maine; and Greenville, N.C. U.S. Cellular plans to introduce a portfolio of 4G-enabled devices during the first phase of its 4G LTE deployment and will continue to expand its offering through 2012. The rollout builds on the 3G data services that U.S. Cellular customers already enjoy on the carrier's high-quality nationwide network.


As for future plans? Those details will come "at a later date," but we're hoping there's no great LTE surcharge in the works.