AT&T (NYSE:T) is closely tracking Verizon Wireless’ (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD) long-term evolution timeline, taking many of the same steps in its LTE roll-out plans as its arch-competitor–albeit one year later. Just as VZW announced Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) and Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) as its LTE vendors last year at Mobile World Congress, AT&T revealed the week before this year’s Congress the same two would build its 4G network . And just as Verizon set up LTE innovation centers last April to encourage new 4g devices and applications for its forthcoming LTE trials, AT&T is now doing the same, announcing two US and one international labs focusing on its newest network technologies.
The three innovation centers will technically focus on more than just LTE devices. According to AT&T chief technology officer John Donovan, the operator will open up its U-Verse IPTV platform, as well as LTE, to network equipment and device makers and application developers. In additon to exposing its network interfaces and service delivery platforms to newcomers, AT&T will provide facetime with its own, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson engineers and scientists, Donovan said.
The innovation centers will go live later this year when LTE first trial networks go up, presumably co-located in the same market. If AT&T continues to keep follow the same pace as Verizon, it will have its commercial LTE network up in the second half of 2011, but at AT&T’s first quarter earnings report, CEO of operations John Stankey held out the possibility that AT&T could launch LTE earlier then planned.
at&t is too far behind the game, too cautious, too driven by costing and company accounting to be effective. Downsizing over the last 18 months has taken much of the experienced workforce out of the at&t portfolio and has had a marked performance impact across ALL operations. Their LTE efforts are being designed by college engineering interns who will learn at the cost of the customer’s pain! Sorry fact is, the C-levels are oblivious or ignore this erosion as it has driven dividends of the stock to make them look good. It is the mistaken mentality that all will progress at at&t because “We are AT&T…”, yeah right. After 30 years in the telecomm business, I don’t see it. They lucked out with the iphone…
How can you title an article that “AT&T LTE pace keeps track with VZW” when it is NOT??? Verizon has launched, AT&T has not. Thus far, in LTE, Verizon walks, AT&T talks–there is no keeping pace here at all. Your first sentence clarifies and contradicts the title. Why the misleading title?