T-Mobile counters VZW’s LTE expansion with more dual-carrier networks

A day after Verizon Wireless expanded its long-term evolution (LTE) footprint to 19 new markets (CP: Verizon preps for LTE expansion), T-Mobile has countered by bringing its dual-carrier high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) upgrade to another 41 cities. That brings T-Mobile’s total footprint for the lightning fast 42 Mb/s to 97 markets compared to Verizon’s 74.

Though all of the operators offer so-called 4G services, Verizon and T-Mobile’s networks stand out, not just because of the cutting edge technologies used but the enormous bandwidth they’ve devoted to those networks. Both are using 20 MHz of spectrum in their mobile broadband carriers compared to the 10 MHz used by Sprint for WiMAX and AT&T for HSPA+, allowing them to deliver speeds well in excess of 10 Mb/s consistently. Verizon’s next-generation LTE technology is technically the faster (CP: Can T-Mobile’s dual-carrier match VZW’s LTE?), though it conservatively markets its average speeds as between 5 Mb/s to 12 Mb/s. Meanwhile, T-Mobile today reported that it is recording average speeds just under 10 Mb/s and peak speeds of 27 Mb/s to the Rocket 3.0 laptop stick, its sole dual-carrier device.

Neither T-Mobile nor Verizon are reporting total pops covered for their networks so it’s hard to gauge which has the larger footprint. But in general Verizon has been much more aggressive in launching in the biggest metro markets, while T-Mobile has launched in a more than a dozen major metros and focused most its expansion in mid-sized and small markets (CP: T-Mobile rolls out dual-carrier HSPA+). Both carriers’ year-end coverage projections reflect though those trends. Verizon is targeting 185 million pops while T-Mobile is targeting 150 million.

The new markets T-Mobile announced today are: Akron, Ohio; Albuquerque, N.M.; Allentown-Bethlehem, Penn.; Brownsville, Texas; Cape Coral, Fla.; Canton, Ohio; Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.; Cleveland, Ohio; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Corpus Christi, Texas; Fayetteville, N.C.; Florence, S.C.; Fresno, Calif.; Harrisburg-Carlisle, Penn.; Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown, N.C.; Killeen, Texas; Lakeland, Fla.; Lancaster, Penn.; Las Cruces, N.M.; Madera, Calif.; McAllen, Texas; Merced, Calif.; Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Napa, Calif.; Palm Bay, Fla.; Palm Coast, Fla.; Panama City, Fla.; Pueblo, Colo.; Reading, Penn.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Sarasota, Fla.; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Penn.; Sebastian, Fla.; State College, Penn.; Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.; Wilmington, N.C.; Visalia-Porterville, Calif.; Waco, Texas and York-Hanover, Penn.

While Verizon has begun to build up a sizable device portfolio in LTE, including three smartphones, a Novatel MiFi router, multiple USB modems and two forthcoming tablets, T-Mobile’s dual-carrier support is limited to the rocket. All of its 4G smartphones and tablets can only access a single one of the two aggregated carriers on its network. But since T-Mobile’s single-carrier HSPA+ service supports speeds in excess of 3 Mb/s few customers would likely notice the difference.