Verizon Wireless, which is expected to be the first mover in the United States when it comes to deploying the next generation of mobile technology--Long Term Evolution (LTE)--said its network tests in Boston and Seattle are producing download speeds between 40 Mbps and 50 Mbps.

Upload speeds are coming in at between 20 Mbps and 25 Mbps, although the company maintains that the network will be able to generate average downlink speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and average upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps.

Verizon plans to launch 25-30 commercial LTE markets this year, covering around 100 million people. Next year the carrier plans to double that number of markets.

In an interview with Network World, Verizon Wireless CTO Tony Melone said the carrier is "going to be aggressive in our plan to get to critical mass" in LTE. He also said that, as the company fills out its LTE network, it will bring the LTE service to places where it does not have 3G coverage today.

For more:
- see this release
- see this Phone Scoop article

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