U.S. Cellular (USM) said it will commercially launch LTE services in March covering 25% of its customer base. The launch will also include the roll out of a pair of LTE devices in the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator smartphone and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet.
U.S. Cellular’s LTE network is being deploying in concert with King Street Wireless, which won 700 MHz spectrum licenses in parts of 27 states during the Federal Communications Commission auction in 2008. Those licenses included 12 megahertz of spectrum for each license.
The initial markets will be spread across parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas and Oklahoma, and will include the cities of Milwaukee, Madison and Racine, Wis.; Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa; Portland and Bangor, Maine; and Greenville, N.C. U.S. Cellular said it will announce future market launches later this month.
The carrier said last year that it expected to roll out LTE services by the end of 2011 across the markets included in next month’s launch. The carrier noted the delay was due to “additional testing and maintenance to the network to ensure that the 4G LTE network provides a great experience for our customers.”
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