Releasing the first results from its 4G trials, Verizon Wireless (NYES:VZ, NYSE:VOD) today said that its first two long-term evolution (LTE) networks are averaging download speeds of 5-12 Mb/s and upload speeds of 2-5 Mb/s, while achieving peak downlink speeds of 50 Mb/s and uplink speeds of 25 Mb/s. Though the Boston and Seattle networks have yet to be tested in the real conditions of a commercial launch, the initial results show VZW’s new 4G network to be significantly faster than any 3G network running today.
According to independent testing from Root Wireless, downlink speeds for all of the major operators’ 3G networks tend to hover in the 200-400 kb/s range in the country’s largest cities, while average upload speeds rarely pass the 150 kb/s mark. PCWorld’s own recent study (also conducted in major markets) found significantly higher average download and upload speeds for all of the operators, but with the exception of AT&T (NYSE:T), which averaged 1.4 Mb/s over its high-speed packet access (HSPA) network, none exceeded an average downlink connection over 1 Mb/s.
Verizon’s testing methodology is likely much different from that of PCWorld and Root, just as the two’s methodologies appear to vastly different from each other’s. And while Verizon enjoyed the controlled test environment of a non-commercial network, the 3G testing was conducted over live, increasingly congested commercial networks. But if Verizon can carry that trial performance over to its commercial launch, even the lower end of its results would produce a network five to ten times faster than what almost all 3G networks in the US can offer today and almost double the 3-6 Mb/s average fellow 4G provider Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) is delivering over its WiMax network.
So far, there is only one commercially live LTE network to compare Verizon’s results to. TeliaSonera launched its LTE network late last year, and results from two independent tests of the network recorded average download speeds of 25 Mb/s and peak speeds in excess of 45 Mb/s.